TangleRoot (Star Sojourner Book 6) (3 page)

“They just might kill you once they have the bristra and they're back in the trade lanes.”

“That's where you and the team come in, Joe. We have to get off-planet in the WCIA ship Sojourner, and then Spirit will destroy the bristra on Equus and the gangsters with it.”

“That's the plan?”

“It's the best we could come up with.”

“You'll be their prisoner, kid, and those scuds are murderers.”

“I won't guide them to Equus until Lisa and Sophia are free and safe. I'll tell them that if they try to torture me into taking them there, or traumatize me by killing my daughter and girlfriend, I could lose my tel abilities to guide them.”

“It's a thin plan.”

“It's all we've got. Come to Black Mesa at four-thirty this morning, Joe. That's where we're supposed to meet, at five AM. When Lisa and Sophia are safely in your hovair and you take off, I'll agree to guide them to Equus. Can you be there, Joe?”

“I'll be there.”

“Without the police? I won't take that chance with their lives.”

“Without the police. You've got my word.”

“Good enough. When can you leave for Equus?” I rubbed my eyes. “We're cutting it pretty close.”

“I'll call Chancey and Bat as soon as we disconnect. Then I'll call WCIA with some trumped-up story to acquisition Sojourner. And then we'll steal the fucking tank of bristra from the Lab. A piece of cake!”

“Joe. It might be Lisa and Sophia's only chance. Once I agree to take them to Equus, they have no more need for Lisa and Sophia.”

“It's a plan that can go wrong at any turn. What the hell is so great about this bristra anyway?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

"I'd say that's why I'm asking.

“My bio team took a scraping of it and we tested it on some of my own cells in a dish.”

“And?”

“There's an enzyme in the cells of bristra that caused my cells to produce younger cells instead of older ones. It's more than just a youth auxinon, Joe. We already have those.”

“Then what?”

“When exposed to bristra, the young cells grow to maturity and then they revert back to their initial young state. We think…”

“Immortality? Is that what you're saying?”

“It's possible. A jellyfish called Turritiopsis nutricula does it. We needed to do more studies, but we know that it keeps doing these flips in age. For how long? That's still open to speculation.”

“What's your guess?”

“I think Spirit was experimenting with a lifeform that not only reverts back to its earlier state indefinitely, but has the capacity of curing any disease that attacks the organism. We saw that, too, when we introduced viruses and bacteria. It killed them off so fast it was a slaughter.”

“Did you ask Spirit about the workings of this plant?”

“Joe, some things you don't ask the entity that's directing the evolution of a whole planet. It's against protocol, you know?”

“How the hell did these gangsters find out about the bristra?”

“Some crotefucker on my own bio team must've decided he wanted in on the incredible profits from this lifeform, and contacted the right people.”

“Do you know who it was?”

“With the kind of credits involved here, any one of them could've been corrupted.” I wiped a hand across my eyes. “Joe, cut the link and call Chancey and Bat. I don't have much time. We'll probably be right on your tail going to Equus.”

“We'll be there, waiting for you when you arrive, kid.”

“I'm counting on you. Do you think Sophia can stay with Abby? She's pretty much alone and probably traumatized.”

“Sure, kid. She can stay with Abby.”

“Leave a cutting at the lab, Joe. I still want to study it if…” I laid my head back and sighed. “Wish me luck, Dad.”

I heard the catch in his voice. “Luck, son.”

I broke the link.

Now, I had to get to Black Mesa.

The air turns cold quickly in the dry high plains of the Rockies. As night settled, I began to feel the chill through my jacket. I put on my knitted ski hat and muffled my face with my scarf. Traffic was heavy as lab workers headed home to the bedroom community of White Rock, and the towns of Espanola and Poquaque. I slid down the sandy ridge and walked along the road with my thumb out, using the headlights of passing cars to see my path.

Finally, a bright yellow low-rider pulled up in front of me, by the side of the road. I trotted to the front door, opened it and slid inside.

“Thanks,” I said and blew on my hands. “It's getting cold out there.” I took off my ski hat and scratched my itchy forehead.

The driver, alone in the ground car, was a young Hispanic woman with large dark eyes and thick, black hair held back in a frilly pink holder. She smiled at me with lips too crimson to be natural, and fire-red cheeks, and swung the car back onto the road. “I can warm you up,
guapetón
.”

“Sorry. No Spanish.” I rubbed my cold hands together.

She shrugged. “It just means very handsome.”

“Oh.” To be polite I asked, “How do you say very beautiful?”

She gave me a broad smile and batted long lashes. “
Muy bella.”

“Well, you're very
muy bella.
”

She laughed. “
Mi nombre es
Lydia. What's your name, Blondie?”

“Sam.”

“OK. So where to, Blondie?”

“Black Mesa. Can you drop me off there?”

“What's there, besides a church, a few houses, and a long climb?”

A church?
“Can you drop me off at the church?” It would be a place to stay warm. “I have to meet someone at five AM.”

“I won't ask about your business,
guapo,
even though it's very strange, so early in the morning.” She put a hand on my knee. “Drugs?”

I shook my head.

“My two kids are staying with their
abuela,
their grandmother.” She rubbed my knee. “
Mi casa es su casa.
”

I knew that one. “That's a great offer, but…” I lifted her hand off my knee. “I'll have to take a rain check.”

She shrugged. “It could've been a fun night.”

Sure,
I thought.
And it will be a real fun morning.

* * *

She left me off at an adobe church. The Mesa loomed darkly, like God's own table in the snowy night. It was a real cloud scraper that had been lifted from deep within the planet's mantle, probably by volcanic action.

I said goodbye to Lydia and entered the church, and was struck by a sense of spirituality. Perhaps it was the pink adobe walls, lit warmly by a great chandelier suspended from the ceiling that cast a golden glow through the broad, solemn chamber. Perhaps it was the alcove that held an ornate altar of white marble columns with the Christ figure on the Cross looming above as central to the religious creed; the heart of the Catholic Church that beat throughout the world. Fresh-cut flowers adorned the altar and gave off a perfumed aroma on this winter night; a winter that had invaded my soul. Invisible organ music played through my mind as an overlay to this transcendent experience.

I walked up the aisle toward the altar, drawn by its serenity in a world where turmoil and greed seemed commonplace.

“For God so loved the world,” a voice said behind me, “that he gave His only son.”

I whirled.

A priest stood at an open side door, his hands folded across his chest. A young Hispanic man, tall and narrow, he smiled at me, looking like a column himself in his black vestment. “I didn't mean to scare you.”

“No, that's all right, Father. Would it be OK if I spent the night sleeping in one of the pews? It's pretty cold outside.”

He smiled and motioned to the door. “I can offer you a softer bed than a pew.”

I checked my watch. Just past six pm. I had eleven hours before meeting the kidnappers. “Thank you.” I followed him through the doorway and into a small room with a cot and a kitchenette. The smell of bubbling bean soup filled the air. I sat at the table and rested my head on the high-backed chair.

“I was about to make supper.” He smiled. “A little more water in the soup wouldn't be a problem.”

“Appreciate it, Father, but I don't think I can eat.”

“I'll add it anyway,” he said and laughed, “in case you change your mind.”

I closed my eyes.
Where were they holding Lisa and Sophia?
Lisa would be so frightened. I thought of our dangerous days on Halcyon together and the times she pleaded,
Daddy, I just want to go home!
when there was no way to take her home to Earth. I sent out a probe, hoping she'd receive, but there was no response.

“I have fresh-brewed coffee,” the priest said, breaking my train of thought. “By the way, my name is Father Rivera.” He poured two cups and set them on the table. “Sugar? Milk?”

“OK.”

He brought them to the table and sat down. I realized, in the soft light, that he was older than I'd first thought. While he moved like a young man, his face bore the first wrinkles of age. “Choose a name that you like,” he said and stirred his coffee, “and I will call you that.”

“Jules,” I said, “Jules Rammis.”

He stopped stirring. He must have listened to the news. “May I call you Jules?”

I nodded. The room was warm and cozy. Had I some peace of mind, I could have slept. I stared at a Crucifix on the wall.
He gave His only son,
I thought. Would I have to give my daughter and Sophia to save the town of Laurel on Halcyon? The hand I was playing held no high cards. Tomorrow I would be the prisoner of vicious gangsters. That was my only certainty.

“Are you religious, my son?”

“In a sense, Father, but it's not your religion.”

He shrugged. “When you go past the rituals and customs of any true religion, we all meet at the Gates of Heaven.”

“You think so, Father?”

He sipped his coffee. “A Buddhist will tell you to shed ego and follow the right path. A Muslim will say that the real jihad is to conquer your own negative base desires. A Christian will say to follow the Ten Commandments.” He put down his cup and smiled. “In the end, what difference?”

A thought struck me and I drew in a breath. He looked at me and waited. Was it possible that as we reincarnated, we were meant to continue to learn? Star Speaker said she had achieved Nirvana and no longer wished to be dragged back to the vicissitudes of lifebinds. “Father? Have you ever considered the possibility of reincarnation?”

He stared at the Crucifix. “I have considered all possibilities, my son. Before I became a priest of the Catholic Church, I was a follower of Mohammed. Is there a belief system that you follow?”

I bit my lip. “In the end, Father, I think, as you've said, it doesn't matter. We strive to arrive at the same Gates.”

He nodded. “Can you find some peace in that?”

“No.” I rubbed my forehead. “It's
impossible
to detach myself from things that will happen in the morning. I can't talk about it.”

“You are not of my faith, but if you request it, I will hear your confession and give you the sacrament of Holy Communion.”

“Thank you, Father, but…” I thought of Great Mind and His love for the souls that passed from this lifebind. Well, the good ones. He would be waiting in the wings if I fell during this dangerous mission. “Father, would you say a prayer for my daughter Lisa and my girlfriend Sophia?”

“Of course.” He went to the stove and shut off the soup. I followed him out to the altar and we knelt side by side. I lowered my head and crossed myself as he whispered a prayer. The Christ figure looked down at us, just a carved statue, but in significance, so much more.

I suddenly felt weary. Father Rivera guided me to the cot and I lay down. “I have to wake up before five o'clock,” I said.

He smiled and slipped off my boots. “I will make certain to wake you. Now close your eyes and sleep, my son.”

I felt him cover me with a blanket as I drifted off.

The night was stormy. Snowflakes settled on my shoulders. I stamped my feet and walked by the side of Black Mesa's main road to stay warm. It was four o'clock in the morning. I wanted to be out here in case the crotefuckers showed up early. Would Lisa and Sophia be with them? I could only hope.

The church and Black Mesa were at my back, both invisible in the darkness. I buried my chin inside my scarf and shivered as an icy wind howled by. It cut through my jacket, and stung my nostrils.

The sound of a distant engine!

I strained to see headlights through falling snow. But as the vehicle materialized out of the night, I realized it was an old pickup. I moved back from the road as the truck pulled up beside me.

“Need a lift,
amigo
?” the old driver asked. “It's too cold to be standing out there in the road. Where are you heading?”

“Thanks, no. I'm waiting for somebody.” I checked my watch and nodded. “He'll be here any minute.”

The old man shrugged. “Hope he's not late.” He ground the gears and the pickup jerked forward.

“Me too,” I whispered and peered down the road at the sound of another approaching vehicle. A Lab hovair. It lowered and circled me. It had to be Joe! But I resisted contacting him on the comlink. The call could be picked up by the gangsters. I wondered if Bat and Chancey were with him. Just the thought of the three of them backing me up relieved some of the tension and fear I felt.

They landed in an open field not far from me and waited there. The driver flashed the headlights in a Morse code that read
We're here.
We've got your back.

I nodded silently.

And then I saw the headlights of a private luxury liner cruise out of the stormy sky and land smoothly about fifty feet away from me.

Lisa
, I sent.

I'm here, Daddy! Where –

Are you all right?

I'm…I'm scared.

I know, baby. I know.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Grandpa's waiting to pick you up.

I want to go with you!

You can't, Squiggles. You'll be safe with grandpa. Is Sophia with you?

She's here. She's scared too.

She'll go with you and grandpa. Don't talk, Lis'. Don't say anything out loud.

What do they want, Daddy?

I have to take them someplace, Lis', like a guide. Then…I can come home.

Can I come with you? Please, Daddy! I'll be good. I want to go with you.

No, baby. Kids can't go where I'm going. You'll stay with mom and your new dad.

He's not my dad. You are!

I love you, Lisa,
I sent,
more than anything, baby.

I know, daddy. I love you too, more than anything…except mommy.

I watched the skinny short guy and a bulky tag, both in long overcoats and hats, get out of the liner and approach me. The scene was set.

The skinny tag nodded toward the Lab hovair. “Did you call the police?” he asked in his high voice.

“They're friends from the Lab,” I told him. “They're here to pick up Lisa and Sophia.”

“Lift up your hands,” the bulky one said in a gravelly voice.

I did and he patted me down.

He was a massive man, with beefy hands and wide thick lips set in a broad face. He yanked out the snub-nosed stingler I still carried from when I'd tel-flattened the short, skinny tag in the Jemez, along with Joe's mouse gun, and my pocket knife.

“What makes you think,” the skinny one said, “that we've got the kid and your
comare
with us?”

“Because that was our deal, and I figure you're a man of your word.” I lowered my hands. “Just turn them loose and tell them to go to the hovair, and I'll come without a fight.”

“A fight?” The skinny one laughed and turned to the bulky one. “Listen to him, Zack. If that don't take balls.”

“I flattened you once with my tel power,” I told the skinny one. “I can take on both of you, if need be. Tell your buddies to let them go, or take the chance that this time I'll use a death blow.”

“You think he's bullshitting, Al?” Zack took a step backward and almost fell over a rock.

“Who cares?” Al answered. “We don't need the kid and the looker anymore. We got what we want, right here.” He took out his comlink. “Paulie, Vito, let the kid and the woman walk. We got him.”

I held my breath.

“I thought they was gonna be added insurance, Al?” a voice said over the link."

“Just fucking let them go, Vito!”

“OK! Whatever you say, boss.”

I breathed again as the liner's back door swung open and Lisa and Sophia emerged, holding hands. They looked back at me as they trotted toward the hovair.

I waited until they were onboard.
Lisa? Is anybody else with grandpa?

There's two men in here. Grandpa says it's all right.

Ask what their names are, baby.

There was a pause, then she said,
One is Chancey and one is a bat. Grandpa says to tell you they're on their way pretty soon to another planet.

OK, baby. Love ya, Squiggles.

Me too, Daddy.

“Let's go!” Al motioned toward the liner.

“As soon as the hovair takes off,” I said.

“I'm freezing my ass off!” Zack whined.

I watched the hovair lift and disappear into the storm, then I turned. I realized I was shivering as I walked toward the liner.

When we got there, Al spun me around and hit me across the cheek. I fell back against the craft. “That's for what you did to me in the mountain with your tel shit.”

I touched my sore cheek. “If it makes you feel better.” I could've delivered a death blow, I knew. But it takes time to spin that degree of tel power, then locate the brain stem, zero in and destroy it. And four were too many to tackle at once.

The back door yawned open and I climbed inside, next to a young tag with brown wavy hair, light eyes, chiseled features and a tan complexion. He was eating a crunchy pastry tube filled with a thick cheese. I stared at it and realized how long it had been since I'd eaten.

He broke off a piece. “Here.” He handed it to me. “We're gonna be together for a long time. Might as well treat each other right.”

I took it and bit into it. I'd have to rely on them for food and any other needs. The crunchy pastry tube mixed with the heavy sweet cheese in my mouth. It was delicious. I stared at it as I chewed.

“It's a cannoli,” he told me and nudged me with his elbow. “Pretty good stuff, huh?”

I nodded and finished it. Then I glanced at the small white bag in his lap.

“Here.” He reached into it and pulled out another cannoli. “You can have the last one.”

“OK.” I took it and bit off the end. “Thanks.”

“
Prego,
” he answered.

“Why the hell don't you propose to him, Paulie?” Zack said from beside him.

“He's a guest,” Paulie answered. “You always feed your guests. You got the friggin' manners of a pig,
stratto!
”

“Al,” Zack said, “he's calling me a jerk!”

“Enough!” Al shouted from the passenger seat. “You two are getting on my friggin' nerves. Now shaddup, both of ya.”

I ate the cannoli and stared out the window as the driver, a balding man with drawn features and a hooked nose, Vito, I guess, headed out to the main road. He turned south toward Santa Fe and possibly the Galaxy Spaceport located there. If we were space bound, we might well get to Equus before Joe, Chancey and Bat.

Lisa?
I sent on a hunch.

Silence.

The ties had broken and I had to consider that I might never see her again, or watch Sophia's broad smile. My daughter and my girlfriend were safe, and that was what really mattered. But I had only myself now and a future that was as bleak and unknowable as this snow-shrouded land.