Michael Times Two & Other Miracles
Chapter 29
XXIX
Edmonds realized that the Cobra helicopters heading toward them almost certainly were Agent Culpepper's doing… and that meant danger… serious danger. It might have been debatable whose death would have pleased Culpepper more… the prisoners'… because they could talk and implicate him… or Edmonds'. The General's second-in-command had always been a needle in Agent Culpepper's side. Culpepper certainly considered the expected "loss" of Edmonds in the attack to be icing on his cake. The fact that a dozen soldiers would also die with Edmonds and the prisoners meant nothing to him. He had nothing against them… but collateral losses were, Culpepper figured, to be expected in any operation. He didn't expect to lose any sleep over it. In fact, he was sure that he would sleep quite well knowing that his "problems" had been taken care of "permanently."
The moment Edmonds realized the danger, he very correctly ordered the vehicles abandoned. Edmonds knew that the target of the Cobras' missiles would be the Humvees, which with their ample gas tanks, would be incinerated… along with anyone in them. Heeding the order to evacuate, everyone scrambled to get out quickly. By rights, they should have made it, because the Cobras were not yet in range to fire their missiles. But then something totally unexpected happened. The sky in front of the convoy opened up, and a hole… or rift… appeared in the air. An object that looked oddly like a motorbike shot out of the rift at a blurring speed, then the rift immediately reclosed with a thunderous BOOM so loud that it blew all the windows out of the Humvees and threw several of the drivers and soldiers out onto the grassy hillside. The convoy came to an immediate stop. When everyone had managed to get back onto their feet or climb back into a sitting position again, they saw that the helicopters had disappeared… all of them.
The object that had shot out of the rift in the sky touched down on the ground in a puff of smoke and flying grass, and within mere seconds, it had closed the gap and pulled up beside the convoy. Everyone could see now that it was a motorbike… but… what kind of motorbike comes out of the sky… or makes a sonic boom? Certainly nothing that anyone present had ever seen. It was sleek and aerodynamic, and though it lacked wings, it almost looked like it could fly… in fact, it appeared that it just had.
The mysterious helmeted rider, dressed in a sleek black fabric that might have been some kind of leather, dismounted and looked at the Humvees. Since most of the soldiers had dropped their weapons when the boom had thrown them out of their vehicles, the newcomer seemed to enjoy a certain advantage at the moment. Apparently just realizing this, several of the soldiers scrambled for their weapons, and as they did, the newcomer started to raise one hand. The soldiers hesitated… Was he surrendering?
"OH! OW! DAMN!"
The soldiers began dropping their guns like hot potatoes. The barrels of the guns started to melt and closed up like straws that had had the air suddenly sucked out of them. Then the stranger's hand began to glow brighter and brighter. Sensing immediate danger, the soldiers nearest to the closest Humvee scattered, putting distance between themselves and the vehicle's gas tanks, but the stranger did not target the vehicle. Instead, he released a blast from the palm of his hand that left a ten-foot-wide, five-foot-deep crater in front of the scattering soldiers. It appeared to have been done as a sign… some kind of demonstration of his powers… a warning that he was not to be trifled with or challenged. It worked.
After surveying the scene, the rider calmly removed his helmet. As he did, two gasps came from inside the second Humvee.
"It's you," Max said, looking at Michael then back at the stranger again.
"Can't be," Michael replied, shaking his head. "It's got to be a trick!"
Max jumped out of the Humvee, and Michael followed him. Alex, who had been riding in the third Humvee, behind the one Max and Michael were in, was already out and heading toward the newcomer, too. Inexplicably, both Alex and Liz, who because of her legs could not leave the vehicle she was in on her own, were smiling broadly.
"Don't they even know when they should be afraid," Michael wondered to himself, turning back and looking at the newcomer again. Michael walked up to the strange sky rider, and the two of them stood there, face to face. They were the same height. They had the same hair, the same eyes, the same build… though the newcomer might have been a few years older.
The newcomer smiled… then nodded slightly, with a look of satisfaction and relief on his face…
"I thought you guys looked like you needed some help down here.
"Yeah," Michael said, nodding in return but still a bit suspicious. "You thought right. I guess I owe you."
The newcomer shrugged. "It was nothing that you wouldn't have done yourself."
"How would you know…" Michael started to ask reflexively, but he had already guessed the answer.
"Michael," Alex said, strolling confidently up to the newcomer with a huge smile on his face. "Meet our Michael."
"I just did," the newcomer said, smiling.
Alex turned to Max and Michael of his group… "Remember when Liz and I were in the hospital and they thought we were in a coma…? Oh, wait… you wouldn't know about that, would you!" Alex suddenly remembered that Max and Michael had still been missing and were presumed to be dead when that had happened.
"Well, I remember it," Kyle said, walking up and looking at the newcomer. So do Dad… and Mom."
Jim smiled and put his arm on Kyle's shoulder. Standing beside Jim, Amy was smiling, too. Kyle had called her the "M" word… "Mom." And it sounded somehow so very right.
Within seconds, the newcomer was surrounded by the other members of the group and having to hold his hands up to stop them from asking any more questions… for the moment. In time, he would answer all their questions.
"There were some helicopters headed this way," Edmonds said, finally screwing up enough courage to approach the newcomer, too. "What happened to them?"
The newcomer shrugged. "If they were near the rift when I came out of hyperspace they probably either crashed or had to set down or return to base for repairs… The bike makes a pretty big bang when it comes out of hyperspace. It would have caused a lot of damage to any helicopters that were too close."
Max smiled. "I can attest to the power of your sonic boom… or whatever it was. It broke all the windows out of the Humvees… and I think it blew the clothes off of a couple of soldiers, too.
The newcomer Michael laughed. "Like the shebbles."
Max looked puzzled, and Michael began to explain…
"The first time I rode this bike, I came out of hyperspace in the hills of the Chanesio region on our planet, Antar. That region is famous for its shebble herding. Shebbles look kind of like a cross between a yak and a buffalo or something, and their abundant hair is harvested by the shebble herders in the region. It comes off pretty easily I found out. When I came out of hyperspace on my bike, a whole field full of shebbles were suddenly left as bald and pink as a newborn baby's butt by the sonic blast… and shebble hair floated down out of the sky for most of the rest of that day. I thought it was pretty funny at the time… but the royal treasury had to reimburse the shebble herders for all their losses." The newcomer smiled at the memory. "You know… it WAS pretty funny, though! Maybe not as funny as Max's hat with the big feather, but…"
"Sounds funny to me," Alex agreed. "I wish I could have seen it."
"I wish you could have, too," the newcomer Michael said. "You'd have appreciated it. It wasn't a total loss, though. The shebble manure market had really good profits that week."
Alex grinned. "There's somebody else over there who'd like to say hello to you." He motioned toward Liz in the third Humvee. The newcomer smiled and walked over to the Humvee.
"Hello again, Liz."
"Hi!"
"I'm glad to see you and Alex made it back safely and you're both okay."
Liz nodded. "Except that my legs don't work again… not like they did on Antar… when we were in those perfect new prefab bodies."
"Yeah, I remember you said that you were paralyzed. Couldn't Max help you?"
Max looked somewhat uncomfortable, and he shook his head. "I couldn't. I tried. Her spine had a gap in it where the bullet went through. I closed the gap up, so at least she isn't risking instant death now every time she moves… but it didn't give her the use of her legs back, Michael. Uh… can I call you that?"
"Yeah. It's my name."
"Well, it's just kind of weird, you know, having two of you here at the same time."
"There's another Max here, too," the newcomer said. "He's up there… in the ship." Michael motioned upward. "Maybe he can heal Liz… or maybe both of you can together…"
Max's face suddenly brightened noticeably, and his eyes sparkled… partly with new hope… and partly from the tears that began to well up in them without warning. He nodded emphatically… "It's worth a try! I think we ought to do it! Yeah… Let's do it!"
"You'll get the chance," the newcomer said, pulling out a small device and pushing a button. A second later, everyone had disappeared except the newcomer. He smiled and looked around at the empty Humvees with their broken windows. There was nothing but the breeze around him now. It was kind of nice. Michael got back onto his bike and twisted the throttle. The bike shot forward instantly, building speed at an incredible rate. In just under six seconds, the air in front of him split apart and opened, and the bike and its rider rushed into the rift. Then the rift reclosed with a thunderous BOOM, blowing the Humvees through the air like paper toys. On the hill, there was no longer anyone around to care.
**********
The fifteen friends and their former captors saw only a bright light. Then the world they had known disappeared from beneath their feet. It was an odd yet somehow strangely calming and peaceful experience. They were entirely and totally at the mercy of whatever this was, yet somehow, it seemed almost impossible to fear it. Whatever lay ahead, they all knew instinctively that none of them could change or alter it now. The experience in the light lasted no more than three or four seconds, but it made a lasting and deep impression… especially on the soldiers and the General's second-in-command, Edmonds.
As the light began to diminish and their surroundings became visible again, the twenty-eight people noticed that they were in a very large white room now. Looking around, at first, no one saw anything but the distant white walls of the huge room, but then there was movement. Something small… smaller than an average human… climbed -or seemed to glide actually- down a makeshift ramp to the floor. The alien creature had on an all-white robe. The soldiers looked at Edmonds, and Edmonds shrugged and looked at Max and Michael. Max and Michael appeared to be as surprised as the others.
The small alien glided up to the group and stopped. Then it spoke… in English…
"Someone will be here to escort you momentarily. In the meantime, I will try to answer any questions you might have."
That was probably a mistake. The helpful little "alien" could not have foreseen the barrage of questions he was about to receive, and Diane, with her instinctive nose for news, was right at the front, but one of the soldiers managed to ask the first question…
"Which way did I go?"
The little alien appeared puzzled by the question.
"Did I go up or down," the soldier asked, hoping to clarify his question.
"You went up," the little alien replied.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" the soldier mumbled.
"Where are we," Diane asked.
The small alien turned and faced Diane. "You are on the Antarian mothership… the New Granolith."
"A spaceship!" Diane turned and smiled at the soldier, who looked embarrassed.
"Are you… Antarian?" Diane asked.
"I am," the small alien confirmed… but I am not biological."
"What is your species then?" one of the soldiers asked.
"Species?" The small alien seemed puzzled by the word when it was applied to him.
"Yeah, you know… your people… What are they?"
"I am a droid… or a robot if you prefer… though perhaps more advanced than any you may be familiar with."
"A robot," Diane repeated, already thinking of a hundred more questions she wanted to ask the small creature. "Are your people… robots then?"
"No. I am a robot… a droid. My usual function is to prepare and serve the meals on the ship for the biological beings who must be fueled and lubricated in that manner."
Diane smiled and nodded, seeming to understand… "You prepare the food. Were you sent here to meet us?"
"No. I was already here. The walls of this bay needed to be painted, and it is my turn to paint." The little droid held up a mechanical arm-like device with a white roller on the end of it. I was painting when you arrived. I don't usually wear this frock, but it would not be good if I were to become painted due to an accident. My systems might require extensive cleaning."
"You have to cook and then paint, too?" Little Fox asked, seeming surprised.
"I am not required to paint," the little droid replied. My function is only to prepare and serve the meals. I traded places with one of the painter droids… just for a few hours… to see what it would be like to do something different. It was his turn to paint… so I am here to take his place… and he is preparing lunch right now. The little droid actually seemed to sigh. "Actually, this frock is no different really than the apron I wear when I prepare food for the dining room. It just covers more of me."
"So… everyone on your planet doesn't wear white robes then…" the soldier asked. "And all the rooms aren't white?"
"No, of course they are not," the little droid replied. "There are many colors on Antar… and on this ship, too… a lot of colors."
The soldier smiled and swallowed. "Okay. That's kind of good to know… I think."
Several others started to ask questions, but at that moment, a section of the wall moved to one side, and three people walked in. One was Max. It seemed that everyone in the room turned to look at the Max who was with them then back at the new Max who had just entered. The second one to enter was Michael, whom they had met below on earth. The third was different… a little bit. His eyes were ever so slightly larger, his skin was ever so slightly lighter than might be expected, and he exuded an "alien" air about him in some way that no one there could precisely explain… probably no more so in reality than many humans, and certainly less than some… Carrot top and Dennis Rodman came to Diane's mind. This third man could be human… He was certainly very good-looking… but there was that air… He just seemed different somehow.
"Gentlemen," the new Max said, addressing the newcomers. "Michael has already filled me in about you." He looked at Edmonds directly. "I take it we can expect this meeting and the time you are here on our ship to be peaceful."
"Would we gain anything if it were not," Edmonds asked.
Max shook his head. "No."
"That's what I thought," Edmonds said. "We will not resist. We have no weapons. We're your prisoners."
Max nodded. "In a manner of speaking, we could say that, yes." Then he turned to the third man who had entered the room, the one with the strangely alien air but rugged good looks…
"This is Varec. Varec is Antar's brightest and most revered scientist. He's also one of the most eminent scientists in the whole of the known universe. This ship is his design… and he helped build it. He's part of our crew… and our friend… and our science expert… along with my wife, Liz."
The younger Max, holding Liz in his arms, looked stunned.
"Does that surprise you," the Max from Antar asked.
His younger double shook his head thoughtfully. In his arms, Liz smiled.
The Max from Antar walked over to his younger self and held out his arms. The younger Max hesitated… but then he put Liz into Max of Antar's arms.
"Come on," Max said to his younger self. "You and I have business to attend to. Let's go somewhere more private. Varec, you come with us. Michael will take care of finding a proper place for each of our… visitors."
Max walked out of the room carrying Liz, and the younger Max followed along on his heels, not letting his Antarian counterpart out of his sight while he had Liz… even if this person was… well… him. Max from Antar stepped into the glass ascension chamber with Liz, and his younger self and Varec stepped in with him. The chamber began to rise smoothly upward. After several brief moments, it stopped, and the doors opened. Max stepped out, followed by the others, and walked toward the bridge, where Liz and Maria from Antar were waiting…
"You found them! They're okay then?" Maria exclaimed excitedly.
"Just like Michael said," Max replied. "They're all okay and they're all onboard."
"That's wonderful," Liz said. "I'm so glad!"
"I am, too," another voice said from nearby. The younger Max and Liz turned around to look.
"Rahn!" they both exclaimed at the same time.
"Omigod," Liz said, "We thought something had happened to you!"
"It kind of did," Rahn said. "I went back and found my old ship on the base where Maria said it was… and I flew it to the reservation to rescue you… my friends… but I was shot down."
"You crashed?" the younger Max asked.
"I would have, but the people on this ship saw my ship going down and retrieved it with a magnetic wave beam. I've been here, working with them to save you… but we thought you were killed when the missiles hit the house. How did you escape?"
"Angie Lee covered us with a mind warp shield so we couldn't be seen," Liz said. "We were leaving when a bright light suddenly engulfed us then the missiles hit. We thought we were dead for sure, but something protected us. We aren't sure what."
"The mind warp shield," Varec said.
"So that really was what saved us then?" Max asked.
"Not by itself," Varec replied. "I believe the beam we sent to try to retrieve you may have interacted with the mind warp shield in a way that may have protected you from the explosions… but the combined protection also caused the beam to lose you. So we thought that you had all been killed in the explosion."
"Well, I'm happy to report that that rumor is not accurate," Max said.
"I am happy, too," Varec said.
"Me, too," Rahn added.
"That goes for us all," Max from Antar said. "Let's see what we can do for Liz."
Max laid the younger Liz down on the sofa at the back of the room and motioned to his younger self.
"It will take both of us to do this. And even then…"
"It'll work," the younger Max said positively. "It's got to! It's just got to."
Max from Antar placed his hands over Liz's lower spine, where the bullet had injured it, and the younger Max placed his hands on top of those of his double. The glow over Liz's back almost doubled when the younger Max added his hands to those of his Antarian counterpart. For almost a minute and a half, they continued, then the glow began to ebb.
"I feel better," Liz said. "I feel stronger."
"Can you move your legs," Max from Antar asked.
Liz looked at her legs and tried to move them. As she did, her face seemed to go from joyous to unsure… then to despair. "I can't. I still can't feel them."
"Let's try again," the younger Max said to his double. "I know we can do it!"
Max from Antar seemed less sure than his younger self, but he nodded. Both of them placed their hands directly on Liz's back, and their hands glowed with a strong, powerful force for over two minutes. Liz felt it from her back to her head and down to her toes. It was a warm, comfortable, healing feeling.
"Try to move your legs now," Max said again.
Liz tried… then she tried again. Then the tears started to run down her face. The younger Max turned away to hide his own tears and smacked his fist into the wall.
"Max." It was Liz who had spoken… "You love me anyway, don't you?"
Max bent over Liz and held her tightly in his arms, as the tears ran down his face onto hers.
"You know I'll always love you, Liz. I'll love you no matter what. I just wanted you to be able to live your life again like… like…"
"Like what, Max?"
"Like you could have if you'd never met me."
Liz closed her eyes and hugged Max tightly. "I'd give up my legs for you all over again, Max. It wouldn't matter. I made my choice. I chose you. That's what I want. If that means I'll never walk again, it'll still be my choice. And, Max… it's worth it… to me."
Max cried.
For a while, no one in the room spoke. It was Rahn who finally broke the silence.
"Well, there could be one other… possible… solution."
Max looked up.
"I don't want to give you any false hope. Keep in mind that it may not work," Rahn said.
"It won't matter," Max replied. "Nothing I do can help Liz."
Liz kissed him. "Your being here with me already has helped me, Max. It's the life I chose. It's the life I want. Understand that… please!" Max sniffed and turned back to Rahn.
"What can be done that I haven't tried already, Rahn?"
"Among my people, there is a… small procedure that is done at birth or very soon after birth that prepares us to be able to change our form. You would not be expected to be able to change your forms, because you have not had the millions of years of evolving that we have had as shapeshifters… but…"
"But what?"
"But… it is possible that if I did this procedure to Liz… maybe… she might be able to learn… one day… to walk again by… I guess you could say, rebuilding her spine… changing its form… changing it inside the bone where the nerve is. It would be shapeshifting… but merely in a very small way. Your bodies would not be capable of any more than that. I'm not really sure that they're capable of even that… but it would be worth trying."
"What would you have to do to Liz," the younger Max asked. His Antarian counterpart nodded, on the verge of asking the same question.
"It is not invasive. They do it to babies in our culture. Someone who knows what part of the brain to activate has to use their power to activate that part of the baby's brain… or in this case, Liz's brain. Humans have similar brains to ours. I am almost certain that you have that potential… it has just not evolved. And humans do not know how to activate it. It does not activate automatically even in all of our people… only in a very few. That is why we have to do the procedure to activate and prepare newborns."
"And it won't hurt Liz?" Max asked.
"It cannot hurt her," Rahn said.
"How come I have never heard of this procedure before," Max of Antar asked.
Rahn looked momentarily uncomfortable. "It is one of our greatest secrets. We do not tell others."
"Show me," the younger Max said. "Do it." He looked at Liz, and Liz nodded.
Rahn put his thumb on a point just behind Liz's right temple and his second and third fingers on points behind her right ear. Then he concentrated for several moments… Then he removed his hand.
"That's it?" both Max's asked at the same time.
"Yes. It does not teach one to change… it only prepares a small area of the brain to be receptive to learning how to change. Liz may never learn to walk again. You will forgive me if she does not, won't you, Max?"
"Rahn…" Max shook his head. "Even if Liz never walks again, you tried to help her. I'll never forget that. I'll owe you for that as long as I live." He turned back to Liz…
"Do you feel any different, Liz?"
Liz shook her head. "I still feel the warmth from what you did before, Max. It made me feel good all over… like a really deep massage. But I don't feel my legs."
Max nodded and looked back at Rahn. "You said it might take some time before she learns to walk, right?"
"If she learns," Rahn said. "She may not. It was just something I had to try."
"Thank you," Max said. He turned back and smiled at Liz. Liz hugged him then kissed him… and Max felt her leg move slightly.
Max jumped back, shocked. "You… you moved!"
"I did?" Liz seemed to be unaware of it. "I didn't feel anything."
"Try again," Max coaxed. Liz concentrated… and her leg moved again."
"How did you do that," Max asked, excitedly. "Can you do it again?"
"I was just picturing what the spinal cord should look like inside the spinal segments and the discs… and I pictured my spine… in my mind… being like that."
"Well, it's working," Max said, almost jumping up and down with excitement.
"Amazing," Rahn said. "It is incredible that she would be able to do that so soon. It's a very good sign."
Liz smiled and concentrated again, "imagining" her spine whole and as it should be in its entirety. At first, the effort was somewhat taxing, but then it began to be easier. The "image" seemed to be retained in her brain for later recall… probably in that part of the brain that Rahn had activated. Liz "recalled" the image again. It was really not so hard to do now. The image was right there… just waiting to be put into use.
Using all the effort she had to remember what it had been like to walk, Liz pushed her hand down on the sofa and pushed her body up into a sitting position. This in itself was not really new. Liz had been able to do this for a long time now. But what happened next was unexpected. Liz set both feet on the ground, rocked forward, testing her weight on them like a fledgling bird testing the wind under its wings before flying, then stood up.
tbc
Coming Next: The Tide Turns