Department 29 - Chpt 2

　Department 29

Chapter 2

 

       My head was stuffed with a difficult sleep and I labored to pull free of it. I rolled over to look at the clock... 2:30 A.M. I had tossed and turned half the night and had finally drifted off. There was too much on my mind to sleep and I lay there in the dark trying to decide if it were worth the effort to try again or if I should get up and do some work.

      Suddenly the noise of a loud clang filled the house. Something had fallen in the kitchen. At first I wasn't sure if I had dreamed it or if I had actually heard something in the dark. I stood perfectly still and waited to see if it were all in my head or... I hadn't realized it at first but I was holding my breath.

          I ran a mental inventory of the windows, trying to decide if I had left one open.

          As I did so, the sound of what I thought to be voices drifted lightly through the walls to me. My skin rippled with fear as I made my way to the bedroom door, pressing my ear to it, trying to control the pounding of my heart.

        "It's them," I whispered to myself, convinced I was being robbed a second time. I looked about, filled with an odd desire to find the spoon, positive it would be instrumental in handling the problem.

        I tore the room apart, finding it at last under my pillow. With it in my possession I suddenly felt ready to take on all comers, invincible.

"Stop it, you're being silly," I admonished myself.

        Softly, the murmur of voices drifted to me from the living room. Goosebumps rippled over my skin. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I waited to hear it again.

      I didn't have to wait long.

      "What the hell?" I whispered to myself.

      I strained to hear the muffled voices on the other side.

      Slowly, silently, I opened the door... turning the spoon in my hand as if it were a magical wand, offering me a level of wishful protection, peering into the dark hallway. My heart almost stopped when I caught a glint of light coming from the kitchen.

      The voices were louder... there were two.

       I crept closer, pressing my back against the wall to peer around the corner into the lit room.

      A shiver of trepidation ran through me at their appearance. They were like nothing I had ever seen before in my life. There, standing in front of the open refrigerator, were two... I didn't know what to call them... creatures for the lack of a better description.

       The first stood little more than three feet in height and seemed to be the older of the two. Its face was covered with a short, fine hair, like that of a cat or an otter. It was gray at the temples and a light brown everywhere else. It's bright pink, hairless ears, lay flat against it's head with well defined points at each end. With two slightly larger than normal eyes, a single diminutive nose, and a thick lipped mouth it appeared against all logic... Human.

         To my surprise, it was dressed in a pair of black slacks with an electric blue pin stripe running down the side of each leg, becoming the cuff. It hung several inches above the fuzziest feet I had ever seen... and glowed, casting a soft light on the floor. Tucked neatly into the waist band, a bright yellow shirt, over it a red, checked vest with white lapels... a silver chain hung from a vest button, arcing softly before diving into a small pocket on his right side. In his hand, an ornately carved cane with a silver handle.

       The second, smaller, younger creature was dressed almost as formally but with no pocket chain, no cane. The two of them stood in front of the open fridge, staring at its contents.

It took me a moment to work up my courage.

       "Who are you? How did you get into my house?" I demanded angrily, waving the spoon at them as I quickly jumped into the room.

"... is typical for the time period. Notice the preservatives and my personal favorite, artificial cheese and of all things in a can." The older one chuckled, pointing with his cane, unaffected by my interruption.

       "Professor, I think he can see us," the younger one whispered, tugging on the clothing of the larger creature.

       "Nonsense, my boy. If you will remember your Duration training, you will remember these images are over three hundred years old and are long gone. We are invisible, imperceptible, to their primitive visual and audio senses. Your apprehension is understandable, why I remember the first time I traveled to..."

        "I can see you, you furry little b*****d and hear you as well," I sneered.

        "the Americas... the year was 1643..." he continued undaunted.

        "Professor, I think he is addressing you."

        "I said, I can see you," I repeated, slapping my hand on the counter top with a loud bang for emphases.

        "Don't be rude, I'll be with you in a moment," he said glancing quickly in my direction. "Now Seth check your..."

        "Professor, he's looking right at us, he can hear us. He said so," the one called Seth said gulping.

        "Don't be ridiculous. This... all of this is little more than a three dimensional display... yes, it existed just as you see it three hundred years ago but we are merely an energy signature in this time frame. So as you see my boy, we can't possibly be on the same energy frequency as our primitive friend here."

        "How did you get in my house," I shouted, waving the spoon.

        "He can, Professor, he can see us," the younger one shrieked.

        "I'll ask again. Who are you and how did you get into my house?" I demanded, moving closer.

        "Seth, check your particle stabilizer. Is the negative energy density indicator green?" the one called professor asked urgently.

        "Who are you?" I pressed angrily.

        "This is Professor Robert Bartholomew Farthingale," Seth voiced with pride, stepping between the larger creature and me. "Holder of Msc, Master of Letters, Ancient University of Scotland /Bsc Hons, Phd Mrese... a world renown hero in the journals of antiquity research. This man is single handily responsible for..."

       "Man? Looks more like something my Aunt Gale's cat dragged in." I taunted, waving the spoon for good measure.

        "I will have you know..."

        "Seth, that will be enough," the Professor said sternly, pulling the younger creature by the shoulder, pushing him out of the way, moving to shield him with his body.

        He moved slightly closer, slowly raising his cane to swing it from side to side in front of me.

        "Sir, are you sure that's safe?" Seth whispered nervously, pressing closer to his companion.

       "No hypothesis goes untested my boy," the Professor said, cautiously moving his cane closer to my face in a circular motion.

        "Do you mind," I snapped, knocking the cane aside with the spoon.

        "Seth, my boy it would seem we have a problem," the Professor said stepping back, lowering his cane.

        "He see's us then?"

        "I'm afraid so my boy. Something seems to have gone terribly wrong," he answered.

        His eyes narrowed as his head tilted left and right, inspecting me closer.

       "What should we do?"

       "Who are you and how did you get in my house?" I shouted, thrusting the spoon out threateningly.

        "I'm don't think he can hear us. We most likely appear as a faint, out of focus, outline of ourselves... ghosts if you will."

        "Ghosts sir?"

        "Follow my lead my boy. Everything will be fine," the Professor said.

        He lifted his arms and began to undulate his body softly from left to right.

       "Oooooo," the Professor moaned.

       "Sir?"

       "Belief is in the details my boy," the Professor whispered.

       "Awh," Seth returned.

       "Ooooo, oooo," they moaned in unison.

       "Stop it. I can see and hear both of you, plain as day," I chided, pointing right at them.

       "Sir?"

       "Give me a moment. I'm thinking, I'm thinking."

       "For the last time... who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

       "Research." He said flatly.

       "Sir!"

       "We have one of two things happening here Seth... the worse day of my career or the chance of a life time," The Professor countered.

       "Research doesn't answer my question," I said angrily.

       "Seth, what does your density indicator say?"

       The younger creature scrambled to roll up his left sleeve, exposing a mechanism that covered his arm from wrist to elbow. It glowed with several blinking, multicolored lights and a video screen of some sort. He tapped frantically at it with a pudgy finger.

       "It says the field has weakened... it's straining to cover... Professor it's expanded to cover all three of us," Seth gasped. "If we don't..."

        "Seth, we have to be smart about this... let's not let the cat out of the box just yet," the Professor voiced softly.

         "But sir, if the warp bubble collapses.. we... not just us but our friend here will be..."

        "Seth," the Professor snapped roughly.

        "Sorry Sir. I forgot myself for a moment. What with the threat of total annihilation and all..." he said downheartedly.

        "Steady, my boy, steady. We're not cooked just yet. Give me a minute. I can do this," The Professor said, moving to stand just in front of me.

         Pulling at his collar, he cleared his throat several times and then tilted his head all the way back to look me in the eye.

       "Can... you... under... stand... what... I'm... saying?"

       "Sir? Are you alright?"

       "Fine, fine Seth my boy," he responded, shifting his weight and rubbing his hands together. "I'm attempting to communicate with our primitive friend here. Now, time is of the essence so keep an eye on your particle stabilizer and let me know if.."

        "I understand you just fine. You don't have to speak to me as if I'm an imbecile," I chided.

        "Extraordinary, extraordinary. Now follow me for a moment 1, 2, 3, 4."

        "Sir? Do you think now is the time?"

        "Quite right, quite right, perhaps later. Always on target... to your credit my boy. I knew you were at the top of your class for a reason. No apple polisher you," the Professor said happily, pointing at Seth.

        "Thank you Sir, very kind of you. Now, our problem?"

        Suddenly a sharp whine filled the air.

        "Sir," Seth gasped in panic.

        Both creatures stood staring at each other with bewildered expressions, their mouths open.

       "What is that sound?" I asked covering my ears.

       "You can hear that?" The Professor asked urgently, reaching out toward me.

       "What the hell is it?" I shouted as the sound climbed in pitch and volume.

       "Sir!"

       "Quickly my boy, no time to loose. Quickly now," he said grabbing Seth by his arm pulling him along.

        I followed as they scrambled toward the hall closet where the door stood slightly ajar. The Professor flung it full open, slamming it against the wall, punching a hole with the knob.

       To my shock, embedded in the back of the closet an apparatus... a machine of some kind. Smoke billowed violently from it as a barrage of lights blinked furiously from its thick metallic frame. The whine grew in intensity as the floor began to vibrate.

        "Get in," The Professor demanded, shoving Seth toward the machine.

        "But Sir, if I leave without you, you'll be killed," Seth shouted.

        "The energy reserves are to low for both of us. It'll be lucky if you make it, now go," he demanded again.

        "But Sir," Seth pleaded.

        "Contact Department 29 immediately. Understand me?"

        "Sir, not like this, please," Seth implored.

        "Tell my wife..." The Professor voiced softly without looking up.

        "I will," Seth returned.

         I watched in disbelief as he stepped into the device, turning to face us. Five, maybe six, columns of light stabbed into him from above and pieces of him tore free, floating in the air for a moment before dissolving into thousands of tiny pieces before my eyes.

         The floor vibrated violently as the sound grew ever louder and I struggled to regain my vision and my balance.

        "Sorry about this," The Professor said patting me lightly before slumping against the wall.

         Before I could answer the whine reached a fevered pitch, the floor shook and I thought the building would come apart. The sound cut to the very core of me and my nose began to bleed as I fell to the floor along side the creature... and then the unthinkable... a flash of brilliant light and everything went black.

********************

        "What happened?" I rasped.

        "He's coming around," a woman's voice filtered through the thick fog that filled my consciousness. My body ached and my head pounded horribly.

        "Mr. Buckles?" a man said.

        "Please, call me Johnny. Mr. Buckles was my dad," I said lightly, trying to sit up.

        "Johnny it is then. Take it easy... You bumped your head pretty good so we want to make sure everything is alright," he said supporting me as I struggled to sit up right.

        "Where am I? What happened?" I asked feeling a little confused.

        "You're in the back of our rig... just to be sure, nothing to be concerned with," the woman reassured softly as she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my arm.

        "Your rig?"

        "This is Eric and I'm Laurel... we're EMTs... Paramedics," She explained, inflating the band around my arm uncomfortably.

        "What happened? How did I get here?"

        "Your door was open," another woman said gleefully.

        "Beg your pardon?" I asked trying to clear my head.

        "There was a big boom and the whole building shook. Then someone knocked on my door. I rushed to answer it but no one was there... I saw your feet sticking out in the hall way and I called for help, by the way, I'm Suzie," She said holding her arms behind her back, bouncing heel to toe, grinning broadly.

        She was new. I had seen her around the building on and off for the last month. She seemed happy about something, really happy but I had no idea what. She was dressed in a snug fitting pair of black slacks. Her top was made up of large red and white horizontal stripes, giving her a 'Where's Waldo?' appearance.

        "Eric and I carried you out... 215 over 85," Laurel said turning quickly to the twenty something man standing next to her. Clean, bright uniforms gave them both a professional appearance.

         "The firemen said there was some kind of implosion. Everything not nailed down was sucked into the closet and the hallway leading to it. What didn't make its way inside wound up pressed tight against the walls. They said they've never seen anything like it. You're lucky to be alive," Eric voiced, pressing a bandage to my head, taping it in place.

         "Did the Professor get out?" I asked out loud before I could catch myself.

         "The Professor?" Laurel asked with concern.

         "We didn't find anyone else," Eric voiced softly.

         They looked to each other for a hint as to what to do.

         "Was there someone with you?"

         "No... I was alone. I'm just a little confused I guess." I lied, shifting uncomfortably.

         "If you don't mind I have a few questions," Laurel said, moving closer, shining a light into my eyes, holding the lids open.

         "No, I don't mind," I answered lightly.

         "Do you think your friend is okay?" She asked looking about expectantly.

         "He's no friend of mine," I sneered.

         "So there was someone with you," she said, nodding toward her companion, Eric.

         Without a word he jumped from the vehicle waving a policeman closer. The officer spoke quickly into the microphone on his shoulder, breaking into a trot. Three more men jumped to his aid following Eric and the officer into my apartment complex.

         "What's he doing?" I asked, straining to see what was going on.

         "Looking for your friend," Laurel said calmly.

          I didn't know what to say.

         "What are they going to find Johnny," she asked, watching me closely.

         "I don't know," I answered honestly.

         "Who should they be looking for?"

         Before I could answer, Eric had returned with the Policeman. He stood just outside the van, his hands on his hips.

        "We looked everywhere, the apartment is empty. If there was someone there, they're gone now," he said.

        Standing behind him, the three policemen eyed me suspiciously.

        "Was there someone with you or not?" The policeman pressed. His voice was stern, his face serious.

        I suddenly felt on the spot as if I had done something wrong.

        "I'm not clear about it myself," I confessed.

        "Why not?" Laurel asked.

        I spent the next five minutes recounting all that happened before I blacked out... the voices, Seth... the Professor and the strange machine in my hall closet.

        "We checked everywhere Laurel. There was no sign of people or time machines," Eric rebuffed.

         "I believe him. I've heard them myself," Suzie interjected, crossing her arms defiantly.

         "51-50," the officer said with disgust. "Alright people we're done here. Let's wrap it up." He shouted, spinning his finger in the air, walking away, shaking his head.

         "What do you want to do Laurel," Eric asked, refusing to look at me.

         There was a long pause as she scribbled something on her clipboard.

         "Are the hallucinations always both audio and visual?" She asked without looking up.

         "Hallucinations?" I asked unclear what she meant.

         "Mr. Buckles you do realize that your imaginary friend is really an extension of your suppressed subconscious... don't you?"

         "Please, call me Johnny," I said, now more than uncomfortable.

         She slid her glasses down her nose to look over them at me.

"Visual or Audio?" she repeated, tapping her pencil on the clipboard to get my attention.

         "Look, I was just... Bob is a pain in the a*s but he..."

         "Bob? You call your imaginary friend Bob?"

         "Look, I told you what happened. If you don't believe it, that's on you but I told the truth," I said, now aggravated. I pushed my way out of the ambulance and headed to my apartment.

         "The truth, Johnny or the truth as you see it?" Eric asked pointedly.

         "Thanks for patching me up but I think we're done here," I returned over my shoulder.

          "Johnny," Laurel called from behind me. "I'd like to help you... Can I see you again?"

          I could feel the eyes of everyone present on me, boring into me, judging me.

          "I'm not crazy," I shouted in return.

          "I don't think she believes you Johnny," Suzie added, shaking her head.

          "I believe you," Laurel lied.

          Everyone stood transfixed, unmoved, waiting for an answer from me.

          "Look, you seem nice enough but I'm not crazy. I can't help you," I said.

          "I believe you, I do but if you could help me out I'd be grateful," Laurel coaxed.

         "I don't understand."

         "I'm going to school at night... I'm doing a paper on the long term effects of low frequency contamination," she explained, coming closer.

         "What contamination?" I asked, turning to face her.

         "I think you might be the victim of something most people don't even know exist. Your apartment is in a microwave communication corridor. It's possible you've been under its influence without ever knowing it. I'd like to test the theory."

         "Microwave communication corridor?"

         "The shape of the landscape, the surrounding hills, the tall buildings downtown all help to create a corridor... digital tv, cell phones, radio... your apartment sits right in the center of all that low frequency contamination," she said.

         "I don't know. Let me think about it," I said turning for the house again.

        "I'll bring pizza... my treat." 

        "Let me think about it," I returned.

 

 

Reviews

[Craig2591]

Very good. Authentic and believable. A fun read. I found this in the 'Chapters!' contest.

[Tegon Maus]

Thank you Craig... very kind of you to drop a note.

[Will Neill]

Nice one Tegon, Good job sir, an excellent story.
Will

[Alex Vandool]

Absolutely excellent....a winner all the way!

[Wendy Seames Garner]

Love your style of writing, Tegon, funny and intriguing.
"There was to much on my mind to sleep" I think you mean too much on my mind.

[ATG]

A very exciting, amusing, and entertaining chapter. I still want to read more and it left me with odd questions that I am sure are answered later in the book.