The Red Phoenix 12: Strength Comes in Numbers (3 page)

“Tell me what you’re hiding,” Howard demanded.

“I’m not hiding anything.”

“Then what are you afraid of?” asked Howard.

“This is ridiculous, Howard,” stated Aldridge.

“Oh, is it?” said Howard, raising his voice.

“This is silly and childish and I have to get—”

“—Yeah it’s silly, isn’t it?” hollered Howard. “I find the crash site but Captain Aldridge gets to be on top of the world because he doesn’t want to include his own crew in what
he
found! He wants to keep it all to himself!”

“Stand down, Howard,” Aldridge threatened as Howard moved in closer.

“I’m taking this and I’m going to open it!” said Howard, outstretching his hand to grab the briefcase.

“Don’t do that, Howard,” Aldridge cautioned.

“Or what? What are you going to do?” Howard replied.

“I’m warning you,” Aldridge threatened. “Stay back.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake, just give me the damn thing!” Howard demanded.

Thin pink and purple lightning bolts trickled up the side of the suitcase, onto Aldridge’s hand and wrist.

“I said get back!” Aldridge shouted with anger, swinging his suitcase at Howard’s chin.

Howard was thrown several yards away, spinning through the air before he crash-landed on the hangar bay floor.

“Oh, my God!” mumbled Aldridge, panting, walking towards Howard, scared.

Howard didn’t move at first, causing Aldridge to fear that he’d killed him.

“Howard?” Aldridge asked in a worried tone.

Howard began to move and rolled over, moaning, holding his elbow and side.

Aldridge raised his hand to his face, gazing, astonished at the power that defended him.

“It read my mind?” he mumbled, catching his breath. “Incredible.”

Howard rolled on his back, glaring at Aldridge.

“Are you okay?” Aldridge asked.

“Just get the hell away from me,” Howard growled.

“I tried to warn you, Howard,” said Aldridge. “I told you to stay b—”

“Get away!” Howard yelled, swinging his fist, missing him, and falling back down.

“Fine, I’m gone,” said Aldridge, backing away, cold.

“Just take your suitcase and get out of here!” said Howard.

“If that’s how it has to be then fine,” Aldridge responded.

“Trust me, Captain. Your day is coming,” Howard stated.

“Excuse me?” asked Aldridge, detecting his threat.

“This isn’t the end,” Howard added.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Aldridge.

“Oh, I think you know,” Howard replied, picking himself up.

“You just stay away from me, Howard,” Aldridge warned him, backing towards the door to leave. “Next time I might not be so nice.”

Howard stood, watching him leave.

***

A few weeks later, Aldridge set the briefcase down on a table in a room surrounded by four veteran scientists wearing white lab coats; Stanley Miles, William Hart, Thomas Heaton and Leonard Dunn. They sat eagerly watching as Aldridge opened the red and silver metallic chest.

“So, Aldridge, you have us all here, what do you have for us?” asked Miles in a calm voice, giving his chin a gentle rub. “I feel like I’m at a show and tell.”

“Stand by a moment. I’m just getting it ready,” Aldridge answered as the light floated over his hand, emitting the blue vapors. His face lit up with ambition, watching the apparition.

“I know; it’s a fancy jack-in-the-box,” Hart joked, adjusting his glasses, causing the others to crack up.

“Hey, don’t say Jack-in-the-Box,” stated Heaton, circling his hand over his bulgy stomach. “I’m hungry for a hamburger.”

“Do you need any help with that, Aldridge?” asked Dunn in a kind tone, scratching his salt and pepper hair.

“No, I’m good,” Aldridge answered. “I’m bringing it out now.”

The four of them watched Aldridge, noticing bluish vapors streaking out from his sides as his back was turned to them.

“What do you have there?” asked Dunn.

“What I’m about to show you is top secret and classified,” said Aldridge, looking at them over his shoulder.

“According to who?” asked Heaton.

“Me,” Aldridge replied. “You know what’s wrong with our world today, gentlemen?”

“What?” asked Miles.

“A powerful, unlimited source of sustainable energy,” Aldridge responded, turning around to face them as the ghost-like light hovered above his palm, emitting its thin, slow-moving, blue vapors.

The others in the room were afraid at first but then stood from their chairs at a slow pace, taken with the wondrous specter as it made soft, whispery, echoing sounds. They looked upon Aldridge, amazed.

“What in Sam’s hell is that?” asked Hart, staring at it with curiosity and fear.

“I don’t know,” Aldridge answered. “But it’s some kind of advanced magical energy.”

“Magical?” asked Heaton. “What do you mean?”

“Watch this,” stated Aldridge as he stared at Dunn’s white lab coat.

The blue mist shot a thin streak of pink lightning at Miles’ lab coat, making it glow for a short time, turning it purple.

“Good hell!” said Miles, looking down at his lab coat in disbelief, holding his arms up.

The mist shot a green bolt of lightning, rotating with pink and purple at Heaton, Dunn and then Hart, until all their lab coats were purple. Dunn and the others did their best to be unafraid as the mysterious phantasm made more whispery sounds that echoed in a soft tone.

“My God, how did it do that?” asked Dunn, astounded at his purple-sleeved arms.

“It changed the color of our lab coats within seconds,” Miles added.

“Amazing,” said Heaton.

“Why does it make those strange echo, whispery sounds?” asked Dunn.

“I don’t know but do you know what the best part is?” asked Aldridge.

“What’s that?” asked Heaton.

“It read my mind,” Aldridge answered. “I imagined all of your lab coats the color of purple.”

“Goodness’ sakes,” stated Miles, drawing his face close to the misty blue apparition, moving his hand through it, adjusting his glasses.

“What does it feel like?” asked Hart.

“It’s nothing more than a vaporish cloud with this light in the middle,” Miles answered. “There’s nothing solid to it at all.”

“Imagine. A form of energy that can change matter at the mere thought of the one that wields it,” said Dunn.

“What do you need from us, Aldridge?” asked Hart, his voice serious like he wanted to talk business.

“For you to be my team of scientists,” Aldridge answered. “You guys are experts in chemical engineering and working with energy.”

“What is it you’re trying to achieve?” asked Hart.

“Anything that will change the world as we know it, grant us the Nobel Prize and plaster our faces on every magazine, TV, and radio show across the globe,” Aldridge answered with ambition gleaming in his eyes. “We are the future of energy in this world, gentlemen.”

“That’s a lot of ambition,” said Dunn.

“I intend to go all the way with this. And I want all of you to stand with me when we go down in history as the greatest scientists ever,” Aldridge replied, full of confidence.

He placed the misty-moving apparition back into the metal chest, closing it up.

“Aldridge, we’re scientists, yes, but we’ve never handled anything the likes of this,” stated Dunn. “Whatever this is it could be centuries ahead of us in terms of technology.”

“True,” Hart added.

“How is it your superiors here at N.A.S.A. allowed you to walk away with this?” asked Heaton. “You discovered this at the crash site on the moon, didn’t you?”

Aldridge was silent. He felt guilty knowing he broke the law and protocol, keeping such a thing from his higher-ups when he knew it should have been reported, documented and released to the proper personnel at N.A.S.A.

“Did you not report this finding on the moon?” asked Miles, sounding concerned, glancing at the others.

Aldridge was still quiet.

“Captain Aldridge? Why didn’t you report this?” asked Hart in disbelief.

“Yes, do explain, sir,” Dunn added, sounding worried.

“What you’re asking is illegal, Aldridge,” stated Heaton.

“It could be a form of power from some dark place in the universe as far as we know,” Miles added.

“Because this is my discovery, gentlemen! Mine and mine alone! I found it! The power belongs to me! There was no way to bring it back on the Apollo Nineteen with my crew having knowledge of it, okay!” Aldridge said in an intense voice.

The room was silent.

“If the world is to change, it will be because of me! Understand?” Aldridge added.

The room was quiet. Miles and the others stood, staring.

“Are you with me?” Aldridge asked, looking at each of them.

Miles and the others glanced at each other with uncertainty.

“I said are you with me?” asked Aldridge in a louder voice.

“So, you want us to study it?” asked Miles.

“Yes!” Aldridge answered in an excited voice. “Study it. Learn about it. Find out what it’s made of.”

There was another brief moment of silence.

“I’m in,” said Hart.

“Me too,” stated Heaton.

“I’ll do it,” Dunn added.

“What about you, Miles?” asked Aldridge.

“Count me in,” said Miles, delaying his response. “But my one concern is this…”

“What’s that?” asked Aldridge.

“Where in the hell are we supposed to tell the world this was discovered?” Miles asked. “I mean are you just going get up there on national TV and tell everyone you found this thing on the moon but kept it a secret?”

“Leave that part to me,” Hart intervened.

“What do you have in mind, Hauser?” asked Heaton.

“We have several projects running in Sector Nine,” Hart answered. “I can document that you’ve been helping us with the projects and aided in the discovery due to a freak accident. I’ve been the lead engineer for the past three years. It would be private and require little or no supervision from anybody.”