A Storied Man

The maglev power failed and the train fell onto the rails. Several passengers shrieked at the jolt.

“I thought these things had wheels for starting and stopping,” Shelley said.

“They do, but this stop wasn’t planned,” Keith said.

“Hey, look!” yelled a man pointing out the window.

The men called Falcon and Theo ran down the rail’s grassy embankment to a neighborhood of slum houses. The man in the Armani suit followed, brandishing a large, silver weapon that resembled a gun. He leveled it at the men and pulled the trigger.

A shack beside Falcon and Theo collapsed in a pile of dust and debris. They scurried behind another ramshackle building. Theo drew a gun Keith recognized as one from old western movies, but couldn’t name. He aimed and fired.

An explosion sounded and the suited man fell forward and tumbled down the embankment. For almost a minute nobody moved, not even the passengers, by now speechless.

Falcon ran over to the suited man and grabbed his weapon. Then, he and Theo turned and hurried deeper into the slums.

“Come on!” Shelley said. “Let’s catch up to those guys!”

“Did you miss the part about the guns?” Keith said.

“I think they just took care of that. Come on!”

Shelley ran to the nearest door and pressed the emergency exit button.

“You’re completely insane,” Keith said.

“But you’re coming with me, aren’t you?”

She bounded out the door and started easing her way down the hill.

Keith looked at two men with severe expressions. They shook their heads. A woman sitting behind them nodded and smiled.

He grabbed his backpack. “Dammit!” he said, and followed after the woman whom just the day before he’d only wanted to buy a cup of coffee.

He stumbled and Shelley steadied him. They continued down hand-in-hand, at turns slipping and walking in switchbacks to avoid tumbling.

“Try to keep an eye on them,” Shelley said.

“I’m a little busy looking at my feet right now.”

At the bottom of the hill, the wooden shanties leaned at angles that seemed to defy gravity. A rotten stench floated in the air. Shelley pinched her nose shut while Keith folded an arm over his.

“The government spends money to send the overtly obese to Prodigia, but they can’t do anything to help these people?”

“Governments will always need poor people,” Shelley said. “But quit talking and keep moving. I think they went this way.”

Their feet smacked against the rutted, muddy road. A family sitting on a porch sofa turned their heads to watch. A man leaning under the hood of a car raised up long enough to get a look at them, then turned back to his work.

Shelly yelled to a boy on a bicycle. “Hey, did two men just run by here?”

“Sure did.” The boy pointed. “They went that way.”

Soon they reached the end of the street, where dense forest awaited them. They leaned over and put their hands on their knees to catch their breath.

“It’s Fuller Woods,” Keith said.

“Where’s the mansion?”

“Opposite side, only about 300 meters in.”

“I don’t see any sign of those guys,” Shelley said. “If only I’d told them I could help them find what they’re looking for.”

“What did you say, young lady?” a man’s voice said. It was somewhere nearby, in the woods.

They shot glances all around.

“Who said that?” Keith said.

“Theo, stop talking to them,” came another voice.

Theo stepped from behind a large oak tree. “We’re runnin’ out of time, pardner,” he said. “If these nice folks can help us, then I’m all for it. You know somethin’ about what we’re after, young lady?”

“Yes, sir. I overheard you talking at the Cotton Patch, and I know all about these woods.”

“Stop!” called a man’s voice from behind them.

“Did we piss in that boy’s Cheerios, or what?” Theo said. “He don’t give up for nothin’, not even after I winged him.”

The suited man slipped with each step as he drew closer. His right arm across his chest, he pressed a hand against his shoulder. There was no blood on his clothes.

Falcon stepped out from behind a looming maple tree. “What are you going to do, Agent? I have your BFG,” he said.

“Just paralyze him, Billy-boy, so we can go on about our business.”

Falcon raised the weapon and aimed. The approaching man stopped and held up his right arm in surrender. “Don’t shoot. I’m unarmed.”

Theo laughed. “You mean ‘one-armed,’” he said. “Now that’s the first good laugh I’ve had all day.”

Wires hung from a gaping hole in the man’s upper arm.

Keith’s mouth dropped open. “What are you?”

“I’m Agent Wurlitzer, Time Code Enforcement, and I’m placing those two under arrest.”

“Sorry about this, pal,” Falcon said. He pulled the trigger.

The suited man fell flat on his back in the mud.

“Did he say, ‘Time Code Enforcement?’” Keith said.

“Yes, he did. I wish you hadn’t heard that,” Falcon said.

“Please, don’t shoot us,” Shelley said.

“Well, my client seems to think we need you. First, we have to move him.” He motioned to Wurlitzer, still lying motionless. “Can’t leave our time’s technology out here for anybody to find.”

Keith and Shelley shook their heads.

Theo and Falcon each grabbed one of Wurlitzer’s legs and dragged him behind a tree. They covered him with leaves.

“Now what happens to him?” Keith said.

“Oh, he’ll disintegrate,” Falcon said.

Keith pointed at the BFG. “Because of that thing?”

“No, because of the laws of physics. Or, rather, because of how we bend them.”

“So you do travel in time?”

“I’ll tell you all about it, if I get the chance. Meanwhile, let’s move.”

“Yes, sir,” Shelley said.

“Quit calling these guys ’sir,’” Keith said.

They headed into the woods, ducking under briers and pushing aside aromatic cedar limbs.

Keith considered Wurlitzer again. He couldn’t imagine programming such a robot, even if the designers could make it look like a man.

“So, how do you know so much about this place, little lady?” Theo asked.

“The Fullers are thinking about selling this plot of land, and they had the lumber company my ex-husband works for come out and mark all the trees. To see if they could make money off the timber first. He came back with more bug bites and rashes than I’ve ever seen on one person. I was practically pouring calamine lotion on him. Not to mention the foot fungus he ended up with. Part of this land is swamp, you know. His feet weren’t dry for probably a good month.”

“Poor guy,” Falcon said.

“Oh, no, he’s a complete son of a bitch,” Shelley said. “He suffered a lot on that job, but I can’t say I felt sorry for him.”

Fallen branches cracked under their feet. Squirrels scurried up trees.

“Now I see why he wanted to marry a rich woman,” Keith said.

“Yeah, she swept him away from all that. And our cut of this money will help us get out, too.”

Falcon and Theo stopped. Keith bumped into Falcon. Shelley bumped into Theo.

Falcon turned to face them. “You’re cut of the what?”

“The money that you’re looking for. Or something valuable, anyway. We’ll get in on the deal now that we’re helping you, right?” Shelley said.

Theo and Falcon laughed.

“Darlin’,” Theo said, “We ain’t searchin’ for money.”

“And not anything else that would be of value to you,” Falcon said.

(to be continued)

This entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 10:17 pm and is filed under Drama, Sci-Fi. You may follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed, and/or leave a comment below.