FB3-57 "The Secret Source"

A Chapter by dw817

"Incorrect !" and with that he grabbed the old man by the scruff of the neck and hurled him straight into the crowd of people who gasped with fear. "Stand clear !" the soldier then said to the crowd.

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F U T U R E B A R R I E R
( The 3rd Novel )
Secret Technology, Unrequited Love, Absolute Vengeance

© July 2018 Written by David Wicker
Please do not reprint without permission

CHAPTER 57 - "The Secret Source"
[ CHOOSE A DIFFERENT CHAPTER TO READ ]

* * *

This chapter is Rated: TEEN

But Corrigan was a cautious man.
A great deal of his victories in battle stemmed from the very fact he would wait and watch and see what happened around him before attempting to make any rash moves.

He did so here as well.

An angry mob of people approached the only exit to Arkos, the heavily guarded elevator.

Seeing how well equipped with weapons the soldiers there were carrying, they stopped.

Two soldiers walked up to them. One pointed his weapon straight at the crew while the other spoke, "Do you know the secret to the source ?"

An old man pushed from the crowd and spoke in a quavery yet strong voice. "Yes, we believe we do."

"Then step forward."

He did so and the soldier at first alarmingly pointed his weapon right at the man, but then pulled it back and whispered something into his ear.

The old man smiled and started to repeat it out loud for the others when the soldier put the muzzle of the soldier's weapon was pressed to his cheek and he barked, "Do not repeat it ! You have one chance to get it right. What say you? What is your answer ?"

"I - I don't know !" he said, frightened. "I was expecting a riddle or something, this is more of a silly - "

But the soldier cut him off. "Answer !"

The old man scratched his head and chin, then bounced up and down on each foot as if that would somehow give him the answer.

"Well !?" the soldier said, clearly losing patience.

The soldier leaned forward so the man could whisper in his ear. The old man quietly said to him, "The source is ... a meal ?"

"Incorrect !" and with that the soldier grabbed the old man by the scruff of the neck and hurled him straight into the crowd of people who gasped with fear. Clearly the armor the soldier wore gave him greater strength than a normal man.

"Stand clear !" the soldier then said. The mob of people immediately pulled back from the crumpled form of the old man. He then fired his weapon straight at him and the man vanished in an eerie red swirling light.

Corrigan who was watching confirmed his fears. The weapons they brandished were indeed originally fitted for tranquilizer darts but had been modified to handle disintegration now. He would need to be especially cautious.

"Anyone else ?" the other soldier demanded, but those from the group were quickly running away now, not even seeing a pile of ash where their elder was.

And as Corrigan was watching all this, corporal Micks was approaching the soldier now !

"Get back, you idiot !" he hissed to him. "You'll be killed !"

Instead Micks resolutely stepped forward.

"You're not from around here." the soldier said evenly, taking in the futuristic military garb and accoutrements.

"That could be." Micks said. "But ask me your question. I'm not afraid."

The soldier smiled and leaning forward whispered something strange in his ear:

* * *

"Hungry, thirsty ? What a day what a day ! A hungry thirsty thirsty day !"

The soldier then leaned back to see the reaction. And of course Micks smiled at the strange statement. "THAT is the riddle ?" He shook his head. "That's not a riddle, it's a sentence and a weird one at that !"

The soldier brought his weapon level with Micks. "Nonetheless, you will have the correct answer or you can ponder it in the afterlife."

Strangely, Micks HAD heard this strange statement before. But from where ? Where ! From a book ? No. A song ? No. A poem ? No. A movie ? No ... He scratched his head in thought quickly running out of ideas to the source - which surely must be the answer this soldier wanted.

The words had hungry and thirsty in them - so the source could be a meal. But he doubted the answer would be something as simple as that. It also couldn't be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, as the statement did not actually mention any specific food items.

Then it clicked on him. He was visiting his nephew and watching cartoons with him. In one show, these exact words were spoken. But what was the name of the show ?

"Well !?" the guard demanded, raising the weapon to Micks' face.

"It's - " but the guard shook his head. "No, whisper it to me. The answer must remain a secret."

Micks nodded. Then he whispered in the guard's ear. "It's from a show."

The guard nodded and returned a whisper. "Good so far, but what show ? What is the name of it ?"

Micks sat down on the dirt for a second at the soldier's feet and cupped his head in his hands in deep thought.

He thought about it and spoke quietly to himself. "Okay, it's not a song, poem, bit of writing, or even a quote from a movie. So - what is it ?"

He thought again about being with his nephew again. He remembered they were watching an old recording as his nephew had quite the collection. Then he saw a strange man. In a cartoon ! And he uttered these words - to Superman ! So the name of the show was ...

"Time's up." the soldier said and prodded Micks' back with his boot. "Stand up and give me the answer."

Micks then whispered in his ear. "The source is 'The Superfriends.' "

The soldier nodded, impressed, "That's part of the answer. What's the rest ?"

Micks remembered looking at the boxes the videos were in. Outside of a description of the show, there was a 4-digit number. He wracked his brain trying to think of what it was.

The serial number to the video ? No. The year it was made into a video ? No. The home address of his nephew ? No, not that at all.

He shook his head. It was none of these things. No, the source to the statement was correct. It was the Superfriends. But what was the source to the Superfriends ?

The year it was released !

He whispered excitedly, "The year."

"What year ?" the guard said, and this time leveled his gun on Mick determined he would not know the final answer to this question.

"Give me a minute !" Micks said.

The guard smiled. "You'll get that minute. You have exactly 60-seconds."

So now Mick pondered about seeing the box those few years ago. There was a 4-digit number there and that was the original release date of this series. The final piece to the puzzle.

"Time's up !" the guard barked.

"I need more time !" Micks begged.

The guard shook his head. "You're very close. But you have to be exact. What's the final part of the source ?"

Then he saw it in his mind. It clicked in him. "1973." he said, not bothering to whisper so much now.

The guard staggered and almost fell back. The other soldier who still had his weapon trained on him lowered it in confusion.

Then he whispered to the other soldier, "Is that right ?"

That soldier nodded. He smiled, amazed anyone could ever guess so complex a puzzle. Finally, he connected the weapon to his back and held out a hand. "You may pass."

As Mick approached the elevator, Corrigan and Hudson also came out from hiding.

"Halt !" the soldier said, pulling out his weapon.

But Micks was on top of it. "They're with me."

The soldier thought a minute. The answer to the source question was so incredibly difficult, he doubted these two would even come close to the answer. And - he had already vaporized one man today for not knowing the correct answer. Did there need to be more ?

"Pass." he said in a tired tone, and let all three of them approach the elevator.

An especially muscular guard with a weapon quite different from the others looked at the trio.

"To the surface ?" he spoke in a gravelly voice.

"Please." captain Corrigan said.

"All aboard, then." and let them enter the elevator.

Once inside, it was airtight, and apparently a greater distance than what was originally believed. The elevator traveled slowly and made a horrible grinding sound.

Corrigan realized that if the elevator should get trapped between the surface and the level of Arkos that him and his team would be buried alive, already in their own coffin !

He shook his head to get that terrible image out and - a few minutes later though these fears were laid to rest as him and his crew were now on the surface !

END OF CHAPTER 57