RESTORATION (a science fiction novel) (RESTORATION (the science fiction trilogy)) (18 page)

John paused.

“I don’t know, maybe.  I certainly don’t want Amanda in any danger.  I do care for her but I just don’t feel like I can trust her with something like this yet.  I hate saying that about her.  I guess it’s just because of what Karen did to me; I must have trust issues or something.” 

“You really do need to tell her John.  Maybe you could do a background check on her.  That’s your thing man, go snooping and find out everything about her.  Once you know that she’s all right you can tell her what’s going on.” 

“Yeah maybe you’re right.  Okay, I guess we can do the dinner thing.  We gotta come up with a day and a time and what we want to eat.  I can have Miranda fix a real nice meal.” 

Dodge thought about it for a second.     

“Well Linsey and I both like seafood and she really likes white wine.  What about Amanda, what foods does she like?

“She likes seafood okay and wine too, that’ll be just fine.” 

“Okay, so if we get together Wednesday evening will that give you enough time to do a background check on Amanda?”
         “Dude, I already did that.  After Karen pulled her little running off deal, I investigated every woman prior to the second date!  I even have cameras around the perimeter of her house to make sure she’s not seeing anyone else.”
         “Wow, you do have trust issues.  But I guess in this case it may have just paid off!”
         “All right, so Wednesday it is unless I hear differently from you tonight when you talk to Linsey.”

They called it a night and John walked out with him.     

“Hey speaking of additional security I would like to add some at our house.  We have a very basic security system and I would really like some added cameras to be installed and some other sensors so that we can sleep better at night considering the situation.”  John patted him on the back as they were walking out toward Dodge’s car.     

“We can take care of that and don’t worry about the expense, it’s on me.”
         “Thanks!” Dodge said. 

“Hey how’s your Dad doing? Isn’t he supposed to get Restoration done soon?”
         “Yes in fact we’re going to the Lifecenter Tuesday morning for the procedure and that’s why I didn’t want to come over until Wednesday night for dinner.  I want to have that whole thing behind us and know that he’s all right before we dive into this any deeper.”

Chapter 1
0
      Sunday was a good day.  Dodge actually got to sleep in until about 9:00 a.m.  They went to the late Church service at 11:00 a.m. and they all sat together with his Father which was nice, they hadn’t done that since Easter. 

Pastor Ben delivered a message of hope for the world which was nice as opposed to one of those sermons that makes you feel guilty for not being perfect. 

At the end of the service Pastor Ben mentioned Alan along with two other people that were also scheduled to be restored in the coming week.  He said that the assembly should all remember them in their prayers this week and to pray for problem free Restorations, it was very nice.  Afterwards the whole family went back to the Kerrington’s for Linsey’s Beef Manhattan with all the extras, it was delicious. Linsey even made a cheesecake the night before and it turned out really good too.

Dodge tried to not think about Ron Simpson or ESS or anything having to do with work or the danger that may be lurking ahead.  Instead he cleared his head, focused on his family and tried to rest.  He knew it was about to get very serious and this thing could take a while to resolve. 

It might turn out to be nothing more than a string of coincidental oddities that looked very suspicious or it could turn out to be exactly their worst nightmare, forcing them to run for their lives from either the killers or the authorities or both.  Either way there was no sense in getting all worked up just yet, they still didn’t have all the facts. 

For now he needed to focus on Alan for two days in preparation for one of the biggest days they would ever see. 
Bobby’s restoration really opened Alan’s mind to the concept of it and now he would take the voluntary leap to do the same thing.   

This would be a special moment for the family because Alan would become the first person in their family to defy death from natural causes and make a conscious choice toward immortality.  Hundreds of thousands of people all around the world already experienced it but it didn’t seem real to Dodge until now.  Now that it was hitting them right at home it meant so much more.

Just a few months ago he was not sure if this was something that God frowned upon or approved of.  Did God see this as man delving into an area that was forbidden?  Who knows, but just a few short weeks ago his father had chosen death over life because he believed that Restoration was wrong. 

After Bobby’s accident, death, and Restoration Alan changed his perspective.  He decided to believe that this science, this amazing new technology that man had been allowed to discover, must have been a gift from God. 

Now Dodge’s thoughts were torn, on the one hand he agreed with his father’s current feelings and had pretty much always felt that this technology was a gift.  He was secretly working on the implant for years while his family believed he was working on a project for Medic-Star.  Now he wasn’t so sure about the ethics of it all. 

The new knowledge that some very bad people were behind the scenes with intentions to misuse the technology was blurring his opinion of it.  To turn something wonderful into something horrible, using it to rob hard-working people of their life savings was diabolical beyond belief.  Forcing someone to commit a murder, or other crime, that is not of their own doing, yet with no deniability, was just sick. 

With these thoughts rambling around in his head, he found it difficult to focus on being supportive.  His father never cared much for doctors and now he was about to trust them with his very soul.  Those were Alan’s words; everyone else believed there was little or no risk at all.  Dodge called a meeting with the family because he had an idea and he wanted everyone’s opinion.
         “Linsey?” he called up the stairs, “come on down and bring the kids with you.  I want to talk to everyone for a minute.” 

Linsey was upstairs at her own desk in the bedroom sending out
skymail to all her friends and family.  She was organizing and inviting everyone over for a big party two weeks after Alan’s Restoration.  She figured two weeks should be ample time for Alan to recover, return home, and start feeling much better. 

She wanted to get everyone together for a cookout and a Restoration party that would be the first of its kind in the family.  Linsey was so deep into her project it took her a few seconds to respond. 
         “Okay, I’ll get them and we’ll be down in a minute.” 

Dodge grabbed a bottle of water and sat down at the table, a few moments later the family arrived.
         “What’s up Dad?” Bobby asked, as he came bounding into the kitchen with so much bounce in him, that Dodge wondered why he couldn’t fly.

Sarah was right behind, making a silly face in sarcastic protest to Bobby’s energy level.    

“Jeeze Bobby, settle down twitchy boy!”  She only added to his fidgets by poking him in the side as she rounded him to sit down in the adjacent chair. 

Linsey came in with her reading glasses on the top of her head and a yellow tablet with about twenty turned pages filled with lists of food, guest, numbers, and party ideas.  Dodge realized he had interrupted everyone in one way or another.
         “Well everyone, sorry to keep you all from your various things, but I had an idea and I wanted to see what everyone else thought.” 

“I think Grandpa is probably getting really nervous about the procedure and I don’t want him getting cold feet because of having too much time over the next two days to think about it.  So I think we should spiff up the guest room, which needs a good straightening up, and invite Grandpa over tonight to stay here with us until his procedure Tuesday morning.”  Sarah was already smiling and couldn’t wait to speak up.

              “I think that’s a great idea Dad,” she said enthusiastically.
         “Good because I’m asking you kids to do most of the straightening up in there.” 

             
Everyone agreed that this was a good idea and the meeting was adjourned followed by a group effort to clean up the room, it only took about forty-five minutes to have it completely ready for Alan’s potential stay. 

As soon as they were done Dodge
sicced Linsey on Alan with a phone attack of sweetness from the daughter-in-law that Alan couldn’t resist.  They put him on speaker phone while Linsey worked her magic. 

Of course Alan tried to snake his way out of it but Linsey counter attacked with perfectly executed food bribes and “
pleeeaasse” the very kind little girls use on Daddy’s and Grandpas, and in the end Alan caved.  She hit the end button on her phone and they all high fived Linsey.     

“Let’s go get him!  She said,” as they headed out to the van.  On the way out Linsey
added. . . , “Like taking candy from a baby!” 

By the time they arrived at Alan’s it was after dark.  He was sitting out on the front porch in his favorite chair, an old homemade rocker.  Next to him was a very old but pristine suitcase with a sweater thrown over it.  He was sitting there waiting for his ride just as they expected he would be, but the other thing he was doing, shocked all of them. 

At first they agreed that he must have been pretending but as they filed out of the van and got closer they were sure.  There was a cloud of haze hanging over Alan and just under the roof of the porch.  Alan Kerrington was smoking a cigarette!  Something no one had seen in years and something Bobby and Sarah had never seen except on TV.

Before Dodge could say anything, Alan spoke up.     

“Don’t worry everybody it’s my last one!  I’ve been saving this baby for months.  I figured I’d smoke it when I got real close to death because it wouldn’t make any difference anyway.”

He was snuffing out the butt as he went on.      

“I forgot I had the darned thing until yesterday.  After I was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, I found an unopened pack behind some stuff in the closet.  I used to store my cartons up there and one must have fallen out.  I just put the pack in the middle of the kitchen table, had a few drinks and talked to it half the night.  I told it how much I hated it for having done me so wrong, what with trying to kill me and all.”

“I realized it was illegal to have but I figured no one would know the difference that one old man had a pack of cigarettes to place blame on for his bad health.  Anyway I smoked one here and there over the years and now the one you just saw me finish was it.” 

“I realize those damned things have slowly killed me and I know when I get restored I can’t do this stuff anymore.  I’m going to have to take care of myself so that I can live as long as possible with my new body and do everything I can to help my family, my children, my grandchildren and who knows how many generations.  Not only that, I anticipate having to go back to work eventually!  I mean has anyone thought about this?  If we all get restored and we’re all retired who the heck is gonna do all the work in this country?”       

“That’s a great point Dad, I guess we all need to start thinking about that.”  Everyone was still standing there in shock especially the kids.  They had never seen anyone smoke in real life before.         

“Wow Grandpa that stuff smells horrible,” said Bobby.  He and Sarah had to step back off of the porch to allow the haze to clear.
         “Well thank God a policeman didn’t drive by and see you doing that!” said Linsey. “You would’ve been in jail when you were supposed to be at the Lifecenter getting restored.”
         “Yeah, Yeah, I know, give an old man a break would ya?” 

They all continued to give him a hard time as they got in the car and headed for home.   Dodge scheduled Tuesday off to be at the Lifecenter with his family.  This left him little time on Monday to even think about the problems with their hacker. Instead he focused on getting as much work done as possible Monday so that taking Tuesday off wouldn’t set him back too far.

His extra effort Monday would allow him to get back to investigating by Thursday, the day after Linsey and Amanda were brought up to speed at dinner.  He was on his way to work Monday when he realized his plan had one major flaw.  With everything going on he forgot to mention the dinner plans to Linsey, he hoped she hadn’t made some other plans and that the kids didn’t have anything too pressing. 

He tapped the phone button on the wheel.     

“Call Linsey.”  Linsey picked up.  

“Miss me already?  Just had to hear my voice?”
         “Well yes of course my dear, and one other thing.  Don’t be mad but we have dinner plans with John and his girlfriend Amanda Wednesday night.”  He was cringing as he said it because he knew it would be a stroke of luck if there wasn’t a conflict with some other event. 

“Hey that sounds great I think I’m free except Bobby has a ball game that night.  Matt’s going also and I’m sure his mother won’t mind taking Bobby along to help me out, we take turns doing that so it shouldn’t be a problem.” 

“So, what’s Amanda like?” Linsey asked.
         “Oh, I have no idea I haven’t met her either.”
         “Well I guess it’s a date, but next time, please try to give me more notice.  I have to prepare for these things with what to wear, my hair . . . ”