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| Lpnet2-100 Lpnet2: The 4D Earth War Chapter One: Callisto Colony Two Chapter Two: To Amplexa and Tranqua Chapter Three: Asteroid Mining, Politics, and War Chapter Four: Return to Earth Chapter Five: A Friendly Reunion Chapter Six: The Last Outpost Chapter Seven: Air-strike in the Night Chapter Eight: The Temporal Connection Chapter Nine: The Temporal Intersection Chapter Ten: Reunion with Old Friends Chapter Eleven: Ideals for the Future Chapter Twelve: Stonedancer Grounded |
The 4D Earth War
Chapter 10: Reunion with Old Friends
I checked in with the bunker by radio, told them I was going out with the Warbird, and keyed on the spatial engine. Al, Tony, and John were busy with a work crew repairing the power lines. I let them know I’d be back as soon as possible, probably before sundown. “Alright Lisa,” I said, “Buckle in. I don’t anticipate any more trouble today, but just in case, I’d feel better if you were secure in your seat. The Warbird is capable of some very special maneuvers.” We lifted out of the Ecoscience lobby, and up and over the trees. In a minute, we were flying south away from the campus at 200 meters. “Ron,” Lisa said, as we flew along at cruising speed, “there’s still something I don’t understand.” “What?” I said, and looked at her neutrally. “Why didn’t you tell me how you felt about me? If your feelings were so strong for me, why didn’t you let me know?” I had to think about that shortly to find the proper words. “A psychologist,” I explained, “helped me find the answer to that one. It has to do with the conditions forced upon me by my father and mother, as well as the humiliation inflicted upon me by my sadistic brother. Father conditioned me to feel like I didn’t deserve you, and mother made me feel wrong about the very idea of love as a physical thing between two people. Mother, my poor mother, was trying too hard to be as flawless a candidate for the Christian heaven as possible. In her ignorance, however, she overlooked the tremendous importance that such a thing as love could play in her adolescent son’s life. She also wanted me to study at a conservatory, to become a priest.” “Ron,” Lisa said, still uncertain, “that still doesn’t answer it. Why didn’t you tell me?” “My actions at the time,” I explained further, “were limited by the conditions upon me. My father did not give me what most fathers give their sons; instead, he gave me nothing but the idea that I wasn’t good enough. You see, Lisa, in most such cases as the one you and I were involved with, a father gives his son strength and confidence.” “You had no confidence in yourself,” she said. “Exactly,” I went on, “every time I thought about you and how to approach you to get closer and be your friend, I imagined that you would curse me away or put a pie in my face or something. I must have thought of a hundred different ways to impress you so that you’d like me. None of them, in my mind, would work the way I wanted it to. I was tongue-tied and helpless, and I thought you were too good for me, like I wasn’t good enough for you.” “I understand, I think,” she admitted. “I’m sorry it was so difficult, Ron. I never realized what you were going through. When you returned from Virginia, two weeks before classes began in the fall, I thought you rejected me. I wanted you at that time more than ever. Ron, I looked forward to your return all summer. Then when finally you were home, and you and Leo came to pick me up, you acted so strange. Ron, you acted like you didn’t even know me. Why, Ron? Why weren’t you happy to see me?” This was getting more and more difficult to explain. Why? Why wasn’t I happy to see her? That was a very complex question. Answering it while keeping the Warbird steady might be tricky. I keyed on the remote video, to view the land just ahead, and flipped the auto-pilot on. “I’m sorry Lisa,” I said, staring straight ahead and recalling the late summer of 75. “This isn’t easy for me to admit, but when I saw the young people at your sister’s house, I jumped to a very stupid conclusion. I suddenly suspected at that point that you had not waited for me, and I had already lost you to another man.” “What did Leo say?” she said. “Leo said nothing. He just drove and picked you up. When I saw where you were and saw the people...” “You were jealous! Ron, you thought I...” “Yes,” I admitted, “after all, I was gone for two months. Why wait for me?” “And that’s why you wouldn’t talk to me?” “I was really stupid. After I thought it over, I realized how stupid I was. I tried to talk to you, later, at your house, but you cursed me away. After that, it was as if my suspicions were confirmed. I felt as if you were rejecting me for someone else. At that point, I felt the same regrets that I felt when I was in Virginia, heavier than ever. I felt, for years after, that going away that summer was the biggest mistake of my life. I had deep regrets about losing you.” “But Ron,” she insisted, “I thought that you were rejecting me. When you didn’t say anything to me in the car with Leo, I thought I had lost you.” “I’m sorry. I guess I just didn’t know what to say. I had an extreme case of foolish jealousy.” I looked in her eyes and we both realized what had gone wrong. “You may be a little late,” she said, with a smile, “but I’m happy you came back, Ron.” I nodded and said, “I thank the lucky stars, Lisa, that you survived.” I checked the video and realized we were almost there. I switched off the auto-pilot and continued to fly. We were following the river valley, and the old Power plant, the rebel base, was just a few kilometers ahead, so I took us higher and turned southwest, to avoid it. Five minutes later, we were over the old Mawagan town, where the farmhouse was located. It appeared the same as everywhere else, a ghost-town absent of the populace of life that once inhabited it. I slowed the Warbird and zeroed in on the sector in which the farmhouse was located, just seconds away. We made a slow pass over the farm at 100 meters, and Lisa looked into the remote video carefully. She thought she saw someone outside the greenhouse. “I’ve no idea who it is,” she admitted, “from this angle.” “If you see anyone else, let me know,” I said, and did a circle about the fields of the farm. “At least it’s still standing,” she said, “which is more than I can say for most the houses around.” I went up and took a slow dive over the house, to get a view from a better angle. “There’s someone,” she said. I quickly pressed a button on the video console, and swooped over the farmhouse at fifty meters. A minute later, we landed in a field beyond a grove of trees, about a hundred meters from the house. I pushed buttons on the video console, and zeroed in on the figure we’d just recorded. “I don’t know who it is,” she said, with uncertainty. “It isn’t Leo, but the face is somehow familiar. I agreed. “I recognize him from somewhere, could be one of Leo’s friends?” The man was large, wore a tan and green camouflage jacket, and carried a submachine gun. He looked right at us as we dove and started to take aim from the back porch. “Whoever he is,” I said, “he’s got guts. I’ll go and take a closer look. You stay here.” “No,” she objected, “I want to go.” “Lisa,” I insisted, “it may be dangerous. I’ve got armor on, you don’t.” “Oh, okay,” she said reluctantly. “But if Leo and Laura are there, come back and get me.” “Sure thing,” I promised. “I doubt I’d be able to convince them to come with us myself. Sit tight. I’ll be back in a minute.” As I left the Warbird and headed through the trees, the man we saw on the porch surprised me. “Stop right there!” he barked, as he stepped out from behind a tree and aimed the submachine gun. Then I recognized the man, another old friend I hadn’t seen in years. “George?” I said. He squinted shortly and said firmly, “Hands over your head, no sudden moves!” I did so, and said again, “George Wilder, it’s me, Ron Querzo.” “Step outa the shade,” he commanded. I did so and he squinted again, “Ron Querzo?” he said, and looked at the Warbird. “I thought you were on Mars.” “I was,” I admitted, “I came to help out.” “That your ship?” he said. “Yes,” I said. “She’s a real beauty.” “George,” I said, lowering my hands slowly, “have you seen Leo and Laura?” He looked back at me and lowered the gun. He sighed and looked around. “They’re in the house,” he said, “come on, it isn’t safe out here.” He turned to lead the way. “Wait,” I said, “Lisa’s in the ship.” “Get her then,” he said, “hurry. But if I were you, I wouldn’t leave that ship out here alone. Someone might stumble on it and steal it.” “It’ll be alright if I lock it,” I said, and went back to get Lisa. He waited with impatient caution, looking all about. The three of us followed a line of bushes between two fields, reached a greenhouse, and stopped at a heavy metal door. George unlocked it and led us thru to the other side. We entered the backyard of the farmhouse and stopped again. “We should be safe now,” George said, and pulled a string. A bell rang twice somewhere inside the house. “Can’t be too safe, these days,” he admitted, and led the way to the back porch. As we entered, Laura saw Lisa and ran to her. Leo brightened up as he recognized me. “God damn!” Leo said aloud, “Ron Querzo! The last man I ever expected to see!” He extended a hand and we shook, with big grins on our faces. Leo was only an inch shorter than me, with long hair and a dark bushy beard. He was a small businessman, or was, and once operated a farming and landscaping company with about ten odd hired hands. Apparently, George had been the only other one of his workers to survive. “It’s been years,” he said, “I thought you were on Mars or something.” Laura made some tea, and Leo broke out a bottle of wine, while George tried to take it easy but was obviously somewhat confused, as if he were suffering from shell-shock. “Lighten up, George!” Leo said, passing him a cup of wine. “This is a reunion!” We talked and George managed a short smile, then said something about checking the front and left the kitchen. “Don’t mind George,” Leo said, “he’s been on edge ever since this mess began. He’s been great help though. He planted mines all around the farm, built barricades and set trip-wires. He’s kept the rebels out, stands guard day and night.” I smiled, thinking about how George had always been good with things like that. “So you came back to Earth,” he said, “and look who you’ve brought with you.” He went to Lisa and gave her a big hug. “We thought we’d lost you, Lisa,” he said, sat down again at the table and drank his wine. Laura said, “How the hell did you make it back here? We tried to get out once, but there were rebels everywhere.” “Yep,” Leo said, “so we decided to stay. After George fortified the farm, and we kept the rebels out, we managed to survive. We still got things growing in the greenhouse.” “You’ve done alright,” I said, “considering circumstances.” “You just ain’t kidding,” he said. “But I don’t know for how much longer. Every other day and night, rebels try to get in. George’s killed at least a dozen; mines have killed a dozen more. They play with us, almost started a fire last week, but we managed to put it out. Eventually, they quit. Probably decided we’re not worth the trouble. After all, we haven’t got anything of any value here, just a chunk of farmland.” Lisa looked at me and suddenly gave them the good news. “You can come with us! Ron’s got a spaceship!” Leo’s eyes went wide. “That true, Ron, a spaceship?” “That’s right, Leo,” I said, “You can come with us. We’ve got plenty of space, free of the rebels, up north at Amherst.” “Great! The fact is, we’ve been ready to go for some time, ever since the rebels started hitting us,” he said and turned to Laura. “Come on then, girl. We got to pack it up and go!” As they got some things together, George rushed in. “Rebels approaching!” he said, “They must have seen your ship!” “Damn!” Leo cursed. “I’ll go get the ship,” I decided, “and pick you up in the back yard.” As I followed the path along the bushes, back to the grove, I heard gunfire. Minutes later, I swept over the rebels and dropped a couple of photons on them, then landed in the back yard. George covered everyone as they hurried to the Warbird and climbed in. Leo called out an unfamiliar name, and a dog came running. The dog got in, with a boost from George, and minutes later, we were speeding away northward, back to home-base. “Wow,” Leo gasped, standing in the doorway of the bridge. “Ron, you really got yourself a beauty of a ship; a real beauty!” I looked at Lisa, as she settled into the co-pilot seat, and winked. She smiled back, and we both looked ahead as I took us up another 100 meters. |
Chapter Thirteen: Rebels in the Aftermath Chapter Fourteen: Temporal Relativity Chapter Fifteen: The Hand was Forced Chapter Sixteen: Ion Trace to the West Chapter Seventeen: A Warlord and an Evacuation |