Joe Read online

  *****

  Roy checked up on Jimmy who seemed to not only be resting, but enjoying the attention he was getting. He said his headaches were better of course, Roy was instructed by Ellen to give him something strong and something that would make him loopy. Roy wasn’t sure about the term loopy, but he gave him something strong.

  Dan was recovering… from basically nothing. Roy was still waiting to talk to Robbie about that.

  But he saved the best for last, and as soon as he stopped by the lab he was going to see that special patient Frank was telling him about. Patient A.

  Patient A was to be a secret and no one really to know he was there getting testing. He had a brain tumor that Dean had removed and Frank wanted to make sure that the brain tumor was still gone, could he fly his jets, and was there anything Roy could do with his futuristic technology to prevent the tumor? Roy would have to work on that one, he really didn’t work much with tumors in the future considering most people were more concerned with death via plague, starvation, cholera, or LEPs.

  What was so special about this patient?

  Roy would soon find out.

  It was the type of flying suit the Air Force wore in the world before the plague. Johnny sitting on top of the bed held it up and smiled.

  “You like?” George asked.

  “I love it. It’s says CS though.”

  “Yes it does. We’re all part of the same team. Think of my army as just another branch. I wanted you to have that. Only I can approve your rank for that uniform.”

  “Second Lieutenant. Thank you.”

  “So you’ll do it?” George asked. “Ready to come back, fly and well, teach.”

  “Absolutely, as long as I get the go ahead from Dean.”

  “Speaking of which.” George nodded to the door.

  Roy moved inside the door and immediately to the sink.

  Johnny whispered to George. “Since when did Dean start wearing cowboy boots?”

  “Maybe it’s another midlife crisis.”

  After drying his hands, Roy stepped further in. He stopped dead in his tracks and stared at Johnny. “Wow.”

  Johnny snickered. “Wow to you too.”

  Roy nodded then turned to George. “Hello Hap.”

  “No, Hello George.” George corrected.

  “No Dean. My name is Dean not George.”

  “And I’m George not Hap.”

  “Yes.” Roy snapped his fingers. “I knew that. Forgive me. You both are elderly and sometimes you look alike.”

  Johnny laughed out loud.

  “Yeah, well, you look like Henry.” George nodded, and then with a wink, gave Johnny’s ankle a squeeze as he walked by. “See you later on.”

  “See ya George.”

  “Wait.” Roy called out. “How can I look like Henry? He’s Asian.”

  “I don’t know. You just do.” George walked out.

  Roy immediately ran to the mirror. “Oh, I do not. He jokes.”

  “You ok Dean?” Johnny asked.

  “Yes. And you are in the hospital so you are not.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “What?”

  “I have another brain tumor.”

  Quickly, Roy flipped the chart. “No. No you do not. You scared me for a second. I thought I missed something.”

  Johnny snickered. “And are you sure you’re ok?”

  “Yes, just stunned to see you.” Roy moved to the bed. “Very stunned. No wonder you are kept a secret.”

  “Tell me about it. I had to be snuck in.”

  “Did Frank sneak you in?”

  “Yep.”

  Roy nodded. “That Frank is clever.”

  “Uh …” Johnny laughed. “Yeah.”

  “This is amazing.” Roy peered closer to Johnny. Just staring. He tilted his head left to right. “Last I saw you, you were still growing.”

  “Something like that.”

  “Tell me. How did you get back here?”

  “Back here?”

  “Yes, how did you travel here from …?”

  “Oh.” Johnny sang out. “Sorry. The pilgrimage.”

  “Is that what they call it now?”

  “Yeah.” Johnny shrugged.

  “Do you know about yourself? How medically you are different?”

  “Yeah. Unfortunately.” Johnny replied. Not knowing why Dean was asking him these questions. Perhaps testing his memory post tumor. “Am I able to fly?”

  “You do not have wings.”

  “A ha, ha, ha.” Johnny nodded. “Funny. Jets. Can I fly jets?”

  “Do you know how?’

  “Of course. I want to know if the pressure will harm me.”

  “You are fine to be in jets. Now, back to my questions.”

  “About?’

  “Have you been treated differently?” Roy asked.

  “Um, yeah, what do you think?”

  “Were you isolated?”

  “Still am.”

  Roy gasped. “Is that because Frank keeps you hidden?”

  “I guess. It’s to stop people from getting irate, I guess. You know with me. But I spend a lot of time alone.”

  “Oh, I know how that is.”

  “Go out only at night.”

  “So people do not see you.”

  Johnny nodded

  “We should hang out. Play cards. Chess. We have a lot in common.”

  Johnny raised his eyes. “I’d really like that.”

  “Me, too.”

  With a clomp-clomp, ‘Hey’, Frank entered the room. “How’s it going?”

  “Frank!” Roy said brightly. “No wonder you kept this a secret!”

  “Yeah, you see that now.”

  “Wow he is amazing. Coming along nicely.” Roy touched Johnny’s head. “Imperfections and all.”

  “You think.”

  “Very much.” Roy exhaled. “Wow. Does anyone else know about him?”

  “Just George.”

  “Oh, yes, the elderly man that looks like Hap.”

  Johnny raised a crocked smiled. ‘Dean, again, you seem …”

  Frank interrupted. “Very happy today.”

  “I am.” Roy smiled. “Especially after my meeting with this young man.”

  Johnny nodded. “We’re gonna hang out and play chess.”

  Frank looked at Roy. “Oh, yeah? You think you can beat my son at Chess?”

  “I did not say …” Roy paused. “Your son? Who is your son?”

  Johnny raised his hand.

  Roy gasped. “This is your son? It’s not RR44173?”

  Both Frank and Johnny shook their heads.

  “Whoops. Sorry. I’m bad.” With a quick spin, Roy flew out.

  “Dad? RR44173?” Johnny looked at him with question.

  “Eh, don’t mind Dean. It’s his chip. He needs a tune up.” Frank waved out his hand. “Ready?”

  Johnny stood from the bed. “Ready. Oh, hey, check out what George gave me.” He showed Frank the flight suit.

  “This is really nice. You’ll look all fuckin official when you …” Frank’s eyes widened.

  “What?”

  “A lieutenant?”

  “Yeah, George …”

  “No. No, not another Slagel being an officer.”

  “I can’t be a pilot and enlisted man.”

  “The hell you can’t.” Frank reached for the bars on the uniform.

  “Hey, hey, are you stripping me of my rank?”

  “Yep. I’ll give you a new one.”

  “Dad. You can’t strip me. George authorized that. He runs the CS army.”

  “Yeah, but I’m the fuckin president. I run him.” Frank gripped the bars and grinned. “Let’s go.”

  Johnny grumbled. He would have complained more, but instead he basked. Basked in the fact that his father was being … his father with him again.

  *****

  Money was getting tight. They could only go back to poor Dean’s bank account so many times. So Jason, donned an invisible
suit, went back in time, hit a Chinese Restaurant and stole someone’s order. It wasn’t right, but it was a special night.

  At Dean’s home he set the moo shu on a platter with egg rolls, the entire house smelled wonderful.

  The places were set, booze was ready, and the special guest was set to arrive.

  “19.” Dean stated as he returned to the room.

  “19 what?”

  “So far, 19 different types of genetic make ups were found in the nesting.”

  “But Frank only brought back a small portion.”

  “Exactly,” Dean said. “Which is worrisome. If a small portion tells me it held 19 Killer Babies, how many does an entire nest hold.”

  “That’s a frightening prospect.”

  “Which would explain why we get run over in the future.” Dean looked to the food. “Can I steal an egg roll?”

  “No, we’ll wait for Joe.”

  “Joe.”

  “Joe,” Jason sighed out. “I am so excited. But …” Jason looked his watch. “Where is he?”

  “Christ Robbie.” Joe bounced in his seat. They had pulled over a few miles before Dean’s so he could remove the invisa suit.

  “Sorry, I just have to get back to Beginnings.”

  “I know.”

  “I want to learn the ALS3. Plus I want to avoid Roy.”

  “He’s not a bad guy. Just strange.”

  “And you probably didn’t help that.”

  “No,” Joe shook his head. “I didn’t want to ruin him. He knows I’m alive, why are you avoiding him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Make sure you don’t go to that meeting without me tomorrow. I want to hear about those soldiers up north.”

  “I thought you weren’t going to influence.”

  Joe shot a look Robbie’s way. “If I’m invisible and quiet, how am I gonna influence.”

  “Frank will read your mind.”

  “No, Frank will read your mind, think it’s you and do his own thing. Besides, I want to keep note. I want to mark down what I would do and see what Frank does to see how that affected the Great War.”

  “Hopefully, positively.”

  “Hopefully. We went through a lot of trouble. It had to be bad.”

  “You should have seen your future corpse.”

  “I can imagine.”

  Robbie slowed down the jeep. “We’re here. You’re sure you’ll ride back with Jason.”

  “I’m fine.”

  In a few seconds, Robbie had stopped the jeep. “You look nervous.”

  “Not nervous. Anxious,” Joe stepped from the jeep. “I missed my friend. I can’t wait to see him.”

  “What about me?”

  “I had you my whole life.” Joe stepped out and stopped. “Robert.”

  Robbie looked at him.

  “I’m glad you discovered my whereabouts and the truth.”

  “Really.”

  “Yeah. I am.” Joe winked. “It makes it all a lot better now going through this with you.”

  Robbie smiled. “Thanks, Dad. Have a good night.”

  Joe nodded, gave a proud look to Robbie, and then turned to walk to the house.

  *****

  One wouldn’t expect much more from Jason, but the look upon his face when he opened the door, told Joe all he needed to know. Jason was happy to see him.

  He said nothing, smiled, opened the door wider and when Joe stepped inside, Jason embraced him.

  “Good to see you, Joe.”

  “Good to see you smiling, Jason.”

  They were mid-breaking the embrace when Joe pulled back at the sound of scurrying and thumping.

  Dean as if he tripped his way into the room, appeared. “Joe.”

  “Dean.”

  “Joe!” Dean raced to Joe, like a child he put his arms around Joe’s waist, his head to Joe’s midsection.

  “Nice. Nice.” Joe patted him and moved back. “Christ, you guys act like I was dead.”

  Both Jason and Dean stared at him.

  “It’s good though, feels damn good to be able to be out of that suit and talk to someone else besides the clone.”

  “The, uh clone, huh?” Dean scratched his head. “What’s he like?”

  “You want to meet him?” Joe asked.

  “I don’t know. Do I?”

  Joe shook his head. “He’d intimidate the hell out of you.”

  “How’s that?”

  “He looks like you, is super intelligent, and a nice guy.”

  “I’m a nice guy and super intelligent.”

  “No, Dean, he’s super intelligent.”

  Jason snickered. “That’s funny. Joe, come in, we have dinner. Bet you’re starved.”

  “Actually I am.” Joe followed to the dining room. “I mean I’ve been living off of …” He paused. “Did Danny Hoi do something new or is that Chinese takeout.”

  Jason nodded. “It’s Chinese takeout.”

  “How the hell did you get Chinese takeout?”

  Jason shrugged. “Went to a Chinese restaurant in 1998.”

  “Why 1998?” Dean asked.

  “Ah,” Joe held up a finger. “Height of the Clinton Administration. Chinese Restaurants were a dime a dozen due to his China policies.”

  Jason nodded. “Exactly.”

  “So you used the time machine, you got it working?” Joe questioned.

  “Actually, no. I used the HG Wells.” Jason replied.

  “It’s broke.”

  “It was a glitch.”

  “It works?” Joe asked.

  “Brilliantly.”

  “Well, I’ll be damned.” Joe placed his hands in his pockets. “It works. Don’t tell the clone though, this place isn’t ready for him to go back.”

  “Yes, but look at this. You are out of hiding,” Jason said. “Even if only semi. We now can get a glimpse into the future to make sure you aren’t having a bad influence, and if you are, we can work to change it. Already, Joe, it has worked.”

  “My death worked.”

  “We’ve been there. Briefly, but enough to see a big change from the last time I sent Hal, Frank and Robbie to the future.”

  “Beginnings was there?”

  “Yes.”

  Joe clenched his fist. “Yes. Excellent. Let’s keep this path until the point where I can emerge.”

  “We plan on it.”

  “So um, aside from Chinese food, you used the machine for anything else.”

  Jason looked at Dean then to Joe. “We’ve had some fun. And Joe, the best part is, it’s endless. Any place, any time.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “You know I was supposed to go time traveling to pass time to make sure I don’t interfere at all,” Joe said. “I’d love to try that with you Jason. Might make a boring day go faster.”

  “Anywhere you want to go,” Jason said. “Have any ideas? “

  “As a matter of fact,” Joe rubbed his chin. “I do.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  How so many people could need so many things from him, Robbie didn’t know. He made it back in time to get the security schedules done, but then he made the mistake of putting Jimmy on duty. He had to change that, because according to Frank, Jimmy had to still believe he had that brain virus so he would realize he didn’t fix the ALS3.

  But the next day would bring an end to that.

  Frank planned on telling Jimmy the next day the wonders he accomplished while under the influence of a testosterone induced virus.

  So, security schedule done, Robbie thought he was in the clear. Until he saw Henry, he was complaining to Robbie that he had to make a run in the morning, when he was beyond that.

  Not Robbie’s responsibility to assign him to a run. That was Frank’s. Go to him. It wasn’t Robbie’s fault that half the men were out with a virus that didn’t even exist.

  Robbie even contemplated faking the virus just to get some time off.

  Which he hadn’t.

&nbs
p; There was a lot Robbie wanted to do, especially since he discovered his father was still alive.

  One of them was to spend time with his dad.

  He never realized how much he needed, loved and adored his father until he was gone, now he had the chance to make it up.

  Robbie’s triple life was catching up to him. But by night, he had gotten through the security job, and managed to swipe a bottle from Distribution for a little ‘alone time’ drinking.

  He had just finished up, locked the office, and was heading home when he heard something behind him. He didn’t think much about it until he felt this huge blow to his back. Whatever hit him, slammed into his back, knocking him off balance but not off his feet?

  “Fuck,” Robbie spun around. “Are you trying to knock me over?”

  “Yes,” Roy replied. “I had to catch you.”

  “Call me.” Robbie lit a cigarette.

  “I did. Nineteen times.”

  “I know.”

  “Robbie, we need to talk.”

  “About what?” Robbie continued to walk.

  Roy reached out and grabbed his arm. “Joe’s floating head.”

  Robbie exhaled.

  It felt a little weird going to Roy’s place, which was actually Dean’s place that he shared with Richie. Weird because Richie was on the couch and Robbie went upstairs with Roy.

  But Roy needed privacy and had some things he said he had to show Robbie.

  “I think you and I know what Joe’s floating head means,” Roy said.

  “Dan is nuts?”

  “Robbie. Come on.”

  “What?”

  “Tell me what it means?” Roy asked.

  “You say it.”

  “No, I asked you first.”

  “But I told you to say it first.”

  “Fine,” Roy huffed. “It means Joe is alive.”

  “And why do you say that?”

  “Because I am the one responsible and you know it.”

  “Ok, so, if you know it, why are you coming to me?”

  “Curious.” Roy shrugged. “I figured you may have questions since we both share a secret.”

  “I do.”

  “You may ask. But first let me say your father is a wonderful person.”

  “I know.”

  “How did you know? How did you figure it out?”

  “Easy. Fingerprints. His fingerprints were all over the explosion. Plus …” Robbie held up his hand. “You guys were at the trailer together. I found his DNA on a half-eaten sandwich.”