Authors: George Earl Parker
As she walked up Maple Street, she told herself she wouldn’t stay long…she would just grasp the most salient points of the Samurai, Haiku connection, and she would copy down the titles of the books and order them from the library. Then she’d have plenty of time for a quick visit to the mall to window-shop for shoes. Shoes were her obsession, and unlike chocolate or ice cream, they were non-fattening.
***
Steve wondered how many words were in a newspaper, because it seemed like Mister Hunter had been reading his for hours. He glanced at his watch; almost five minutes had gone by since he’d last checked it when a dog had walked down the street and stopped to pee on a lamppost. He sighed deeply and looked up at the monitor on which, to his surprise and delight, he saw a young girl walking dreamily down the street.
“Mister Hunter, there’s a girl approaching.” He leaned back in his chair awaiting further instructions.
“It hasn’t escaped your attention that we’re looking for a boy then?” Hunter questioned.
“No…” Steve replied, “but I think she may be going to the boy’s house!”
“You think, or you know?” came the gruff response from behind the newspaper.
“I think I know,” he said, “I mean, I have a feeling.”
Hunter peered around the side of the newspaper. “You have a feeling?”
Steve nodded in response, and smiled. He was happy to have Mr. Hunter’s attention at last.
“Does she look anything like the boy in the picture?” Hunter asked him.
Steve scanned the picture carefully, taking in all of the characteristic facial features. “No sir,” he answered.
“You’re sure it’s not the boy in disguise?” Hunter rejoined sarcastically.
He hadn’t thought of that. He gazed back and forth between the photograph and the girl on the monitor, but he saw no resemblance. “I’m sure, sir.”
“Good,” said Hunter. “It always pays to be sure in this business.”
“So what’ll we do now?” Steve wondered aloud, as he watched the girl turn into a driveway.
“We wait,” Hunter countered, resuming his position behind the paper.
“She’s definitely going to the house,” Steve reported with glee.
“Have you worked out what’s going on yet?” Hunter inquired.
“Well, there’s probably nobody home,” Steve theorized.
“Probably,” Hunter agreed.
Steve smiled and glanced at his watch; another whole five minutes had gone by, five minutes in which he’d managed to get Mr. Hunter’s undivided attention.
The spy game isn’t all it’s cracked up to be in the movies and on television; all fast cars, beautiful women, and explosions
, he thought.
It’s just like normal life really; sitting around reading newspapers, watching television, and having the occasional conversation.
***
Kate knocked at the door, stood back and waited for it to open. When it didn’t she moved in and listened attentively trying to hear if anyone was moving around inside. After it became plain there was going to be no response, she turned to leave just as the mail slot spoke to her.
“Pretend I’m not here and go around back,” it said.
She spun back around and stared at it. “What?!” she asked.
“It’s me, John,” it said. “I’m not here, go around to the back.”
“But you are here,” she said. “Just let me in.”
“I can’t,” he said, “Because SID’S PLUMBING is after me.”
She had seen the plumber’s truck parked outside the house, but it hadn’t looked particularly sinister to her. “Why on earth is the plumber after you?” she asked.
“They’re not plumbers; they’re from the school. Please just come around back and I’ll explain everything.”
“Okay,” she said reluctantly as she walked off down the path, wondering exactly what it was she was getting herself into.
***
“Mr. Hunter?” Steve asked.
“Huh?” Hunter grumbled.
“Do you remember the girl I was telling you about earlier?”
“Sure I remember,” Hunter said. “It was only six or seven minutes ago.”
“Well, I’ve been watching her on the monitor, and I believe she’s been talking to the mail slot.”
Hunter screwed up the newspaper and slapped it down. “Really?” he said. “That is very interesting.
“Yes, sir,” Steve said, smiling broadly.
“Well, let me see the videotape.”
Steve proudly rewound the tape to the time just before the girl arrived, and hit the play button.
***
Back in the kitchen John looked around for the two jocks, but they were nowhere to be found. He wondered if they had left, and just as quickly dismissed the idea. They were having too much fun at his expense, and they wouldn’t leave until they had completely exhausted the source.
When he opened the kitchen door, Kate was standing there looking so adorable he nearly swallowed his tongue. “Hi,” he croaked like a frog.
She passed by him like she owned the place and was inside the kitchen before he could gather his thoughts. “Hi,” she said. “So what’s going on?”
“I got the books you were interested in—they’re over there on the table.” He pointed across the kitchen, amazed that he’d managed a whole sentence without his voice failing him.
“I mean, what’s going on with all the cloak and dagger stuff?” she qualified.
“Well, it’s very weird…you wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh yeah? And why wouldn’t I understand?” she asked, tossing her bag on the table and putting her hands firmly on her hips.
“Because nobody understands.”
“Well, if you mean that a plumber’s van is watching you and you can’t open the door, then you’re right, I don’t understand; it’s just plain nuts.”
“Okay,” John said. “The guys in the plumber’s truck are secret agents, I think, and they’re after me because I loused up an experiment at school that transported me to another dimension and turned me into a fly and a bear.”
She stared at him for a long moment. “You see, I do understand.”
“Really?” He smiled gratefully. “I’m so glad. I didn’t think you’d…”
“Yeah,” she shot back, raising her voice over his. “I understand that you are completely loony.”
Muffled laughter erupted from somewhere.
“What was that?” she asked, casting an eagle eye around the kitchen.
“What? I didn’t hear anything.”
“Then you’re even crazier than I thought. I’m out of here!”
“But wait a minute; I can explain everything from the beginning!”
“Save it for the doctors at the insane asylum,” she shot back, grabbing her bag off the table. “They’ll appreciate it more than I ever could.”
As she walked toward the front door, John had the silly notion there was something he could say that would stop her leaving, but as she disappeared into the hallway he knew all was lost, and he sank down into a chair. Almost immediately he stood up again as Kate returned, walking backwards into the room with her hands in the air.
“Oh good, you’ve changed your mind,” he crowed. “But why are you…?” The sentence remained unfinished as Hunter appeared in the doorway, holding a gun.
“Well, well, well, what do you know? You were in here all the time,” he quipped.
“Get out of my house,” John shouted as he leapt toward them, then stopped dead as Hunter swung his gun and pointed it between his eyes.
“Now, now, be nice,” Hunter cautioned. “Or I may just have to start shooting.” He swung the gun back to Kate. “And I think she’ll be first.”
“You’ll be sorry for this,” John promised.
“Naw, I don’t think so,” Hunter said.
Steve pushed past them into the kitchen and started opening cupboards. “Oh, my… what do we have here?” he said triumphantly as he dragged Tex and Cal out of the closet.
“Come on, boys, join the party,” Hunter said, waving his gun and smiling.
Kate shot an evil glance at John. “What are they doing here?” she asked angrily.
“We came to watch,” Cal said.
“He invited us,” Tex added, “Thought we might get a kick out of it.”
“It’s not like that,” John protested. “They’re lying.”
“Pervert,” Kate spat back.
“We bet him he couldn’t get a date with you,” Tex offered, “and I don’t think he did.”
“You are so dead,” said Kate.
“Shut up!” Hunter shouted. “Now here’s the deal. Your friends’ safety depends on you, John. Just do as we say and they’ll be fine.”
“Look,” he said, “this has nothing to do with them; let them go and I’ll come with you.”
“I don’t think so,” Hunter laughed. “They know about us; and besides, they’re the only insurance I have. Now, Steve is going to lead you out to the truck and I’m going to follow. Don’t try anything—one false move and somebody dies.”
As they were filing out of the kitchen, the telephone began to ring. John stopped and looked back.
“It’s not for you,” said Hunter. “Now move.”
FALLOUT
Doctor Kurt Angstrom’s selfish desire to become immortal and stay rich had been detonated. The mushroom cloud from the blast had risen like an exploding fungus, and now the fallout from the event had to be contained and managed.
He sat in the artificial darkness of his penthouse apartment and prepared to view the videotape of Doctor Leitz’s first experiment.
“The darkness doesn’t worry you, does it, Miss Moon?”
She sat in an armchair across from him, and smiled. “No, it doesn’t…I like it; it’s comforting.” She had smiled because it was a game he liked to play. He used darkness as a predator does, to search for weakness; and if he found it, she would be dead meat.
“You know, of course, that it’s easier to motivate people in darkness, do you not?” he asked in his usual sardonic tone.
“I do,” she replied evenly, warming to their interplay.
“In darkness one is closer to the subconscious mind, the child mind. In darkness the imagination finds it easier to ride the roller coaster of emotion, whereas light dulls the senses.” He started the tape and stared at the bleached white image on the screen.
“It’s hard to tell exactly what is happening here,” he said. “There’s so much light. I see a vague shape and then a blinding explosion.” The tape came to an end and he switched off the monitor; he was back in complete darkness and Miss Moon could tell he felt more comfortable.
“So, tell me, what did I just see?” he asked.
“You saw an experiment in which Doctor Leitz endeavored to embody the principles you tasked him with. Due to unforeseen circumstances, a foreign body was introduced into the experiment, namely a young boy; this corrupted the outcome of the event. However, in Doctor Leitz’ opinion the experiment was a success.”
“The boy was killed?”
“No, according to Doctor Leitz he introduced a strange variable into the event.”
“A strange variable?”
“Yes, an element that changes the outcome of the first event and corrupts it.”
“How did it change the experiment?” he asked.
“It created a new experiment within the confines of the first, and Doctor Leitz had to hypothesize the outcome.”
“And his conclusion?”
“He has concluded that the boy may have inherited the ability to change his shape.”
“Interesting, but why?” he asked.
“The alchemists of old spent a lifetime purifying a mysterious substance they referred to as the Stone of Knowledge, and once they had achieved their goal, the Stone had the power to grant them eternal youth, health, and the ability to transmute metals. Doctor Leitz approached the problem from the opposite end. He began with the transmutation of matter and surmised that he could work backward from there to the elixir of youth. The boy passed through the part of the experiment that changed matter, and the boy has the ability to think. When you add those two elements together, you can only reach one conclusion.”
“I sense you are less than enamored with this theory, Miss Moon,” Doctor Angstrom conjectured.
“You’re right; I find it difficult to believe, even though Doctor Leitz succeeded in turning a chair into a sunflower, an error he claims was due to the strange variable. I still find myself prejudiced against the idea that a human being can change shape by an act of will.”
“It seems plausible to me.”
“I imagined you would think that way. Perhaps I’m just adhering to outmoded thinking. We are, after all, deeply into the unknown.”
“And the boy, where is he?”
“Mister Hunter has just completed his mission. We have the boy and three of his friends,” replied Miss Moon.
“Why do we have four of them?”