Cul de sac, p.23
Cul-De-Sac, page 23
For the moment.
“You’re communicating with me directly. I thought you weren’t going to do that again.” Wallace had said as much. When Jake was in prison, accused of killing his parents, unable to explain what had likely gone on. Unbelieved.
The being tilted its head, ever so slightly. It also lifted its right front arm, about a half foot.
“Things have changed. The project has been gutted. The plans destroyed and everyone who is known to possess the ability to replicate the plans is dead or has hidden so well that even my people cannot find them. We need you to find Doctor Hollis. Roy Hollis, do you remember him?”
The name brought up a face. A fat man, with ruddy skin, a poorly groomed mustache and an I.Q. that even just recalling him left Jake feeling more than a little inadequate.
“I do... He came to my parent’s Christmas party last year.”
Wallace touched Jake on the shoulder.
“Things are in motion, to bring you together. When that happens, you must remember for him, for he was never given the whole of it, to protect him from attack by the nemesis. The time for such safety is, I think, over. First protocol, section partition nine. Tell him all of it, then, when he has it, hide it again. You must do this in secret. Only you and he are left, who can do this work now. If either of you fail, or die, then the program dies with you.” There was a familiar wave then, of a bony white claw.
It was similar to what Jake did, he realized. Different, due to the form, similar, since it was from his education. He’d spent a lot of time with Wallace. He didn’t let himself recall all of what he’d learned, of course, but it was more than enough to get him killed. A lot of it was about how to hide that he knew anything at all, of course.
“You’re still alive?” That wasn’t certain. Nothing was, any longer.
“I do continue in a way, but I am not allowed to travel to Earth, for the next block of time. I was allowed this, in an attempt to save your people. It will... Not be pleasant, where I am, due to the consequences of what I am doing at this moment. You understand that. In part.”
He honestly did.
It wasn’t about force or power. Not even about intelligence or capability. In the end, the greatest lesson that Wally the alien had given him was one that sounded simple, but that had pervaded his very being, when it had been needed. When all hope was gone, it had propped him up, more than he’d thought possible.
“You do what must be done.”
The mantis being bowed, just a bit.
“Always. Now, I must go. This time I will be gone, in truth, from your life, I think. All things can change. Next time, if there is one allowed, another must take my place. You must deliver the plans. If you fail, your species will have a very low chance of making it through the next filter that comes.”
“To Doctor Roy Hollis. How do I do that?” They weren’t close, or even truly known to each other.
Wallace clacked again, chittering delightfully.
“That is already arranged. You must wait, and pretend that nothing has changed, until then. Go well, little friend. This is a heavy burden to place on one so very young.” There was a pause, which was all about the dramatic effect. “Then, any burden worth carrying will tend to be heavy. I’ve always found that, at least.”
Jake didn’t get to say goodbye. Then, Wallace didn’t do that. Instead, he finished his step, which had been unbroken, the entire meeting taking place between heartbeats. A stalling of time, not externally, but within him. The big difference was that, for the first time in his life, he remembered.
His lessons came back to him. Not all of them, but many. Things anyone could learn, but that most didn’t bother with. Not math, or science, but how to bear up under pain. How to hide his thoughts from machines that could read minds. Also, when he thought about it, how to act in a way that fit in with his surroundings. Not perfectly, but well enough that no one would be thinking about getting rid of him.
He kept walking. Smoothly. Sad, that Wallace was gone. That had always been a known thing. The being simply didn’t travel through time the same way that any human did, after all. Most of the being’s interaction with humans had been with people on Project Tippler. Jake’s father. His mother, which even as the memory hit him, seemed off. He hadn’t consciously let himself realize that she’d also been a researcher on the time ship project. Not that it wasn’t bigger than just that.
In shock, it was tempting for him to simply walk home.
He didn’t give in to that feeling. Jake, his current form, was actually a good boy, after all. Hard working to an insane level. Dedicated and locked on in a way meant to fit with the adults around him. Accepting of others, and of course, a bit clueless. So, he needed protection and asked for it. That was in his lessons. A thing he recalled having learned, over and over.
Human beings and most of the sub-species felt protective of the young. For a time, a very short one, he could use that. Probably until he was about sixteen or seventeen, being a boy. A girl might have worked better for the plan, given that, but it had been thought that being male would allow him a slightly greater chance of running or fighting, if it was needed.
Oddly, those things had never been pushed on him, in particular. Wallace’s people didn’t know how to do either of those things. Not well. So, he needed to learn about those on his own.
Which, he realized, was the plan.
Going into the Guard Shack, he waved at the woman behind the desk. Martha, this time.
“I should probably get an escort home?” That was the rule, after all.
He was a child, who needed to be protected. For the time being, that idea served him, and the plan. Shaking himself, he smiled, just a bit. Martha was sort of cute, in a weird way, after all. Too old for him, but not all the women there were. Besides, he was still him.
The only real difference was that now, he knew what he was supposed to do next. Find Dr. Hollis. If that didn’t happen, well, then his life was going to become much harder, very quickly.
Shrugging, he waited as Martha called for someone to protect him. From threats that, very suddenly, didn’t seem that major at all.
P.S. Power, Cul-De-Sac
