Puppets All
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Pat waited with increasing impatience as the minutes passed. The sound of a single burst of fire from an automatic weapon startled her. It came from the woods in the direction of the tree. She strained for further sound, but heard only the cawing of crows in the fields, and the rustle of the tree branches in the wind. She got out of the wagon and started to walk down the road toward the tree. The tree was at least sixty feet long. She paused and called out, startling a number of birds from the undergrowth. Their wings beat noisily as they flew away over the fields. Pat entered the woods and started to work her way around the base of the tree, brambles barred her way and she received numerous scratches on her hands. The tree was healthy, but it had not been cut down. Its roots had been torn from the ground, leaving a small crater. On the other side of the tree there was a small clearing, and at the side of the road the big man lay motionless on the ground. She moved quickly to him and started an examination. He had a somewhat rapid heartbeat, but was breathing normally. His eyes opened and he seemed to recognize where he was, but did not move. He looked as if he was paralyzed. Pat established that he could hear, but could not move any part of his body. She communicated by asking him to blink once for a yes and twice for a no. Further examination reveled no sign of injury. When she asked him if he had received a blow on the head, he gave a negative reply. She started fishing through his pockets for the keys to the wagon as she said, "I can't move you, I'll go get help." During this time the man continued to look fearfully at the clearing behind them, Pat went around the tree on the field side of the road, the ground was soft and her shoes sank in as she squelched her way along. When she reached the wagon, she heard the sound of trucks. Moving around the wagon she could see them approaching at high speed. The idea of getting into the wagon and trying to get past the tree crossed her mind, but it was unlikely the wagon would make it across the mud. She leaned against the wagon and awaited the arrival of the trucks. There was a Jeep in front followed by two trucks, and they screeched to a halt beside her. Soldiers poured out of the trucks, some of them entered the woods and others moved along the road on the field side, all heading for the tree. A gaunt-faced officer came out of the Jeep and walked toward her carrying an automatic weapon. He moved with the same characteristics as the big man. The gun he carried seemed to be an integral part of the man. His eyes were a light gray, but the iris was surrounded by a band of dark gray. "Dr. Sullivan?" he queried. "Yes." "Are you unharmed?" he said in a soft, southern drawl. "Yes, thank you," said Pat. "But there's a man on the other side of the tree who is paralyzed." The officer showed no emotion, but waved an arm at a sergeant who was hovering in the background. The sergeant took off at a run toward the tree shouting at some of the soldiers to bring a stretcher. "When we got your message we came as quickly as possible," said the officer, scanning the woods as he spoke. He had gently steered Pat to the side of the wagon next to the fields. "I sent no message," replied Pat. He gave her a searching look. "We received a message giving this exact location, and information about the tree across the road." Pat shook her head in perplexity, and could only repeat, "I sent no message." He let the subject drop and asked, "Do you feel up to telling me what happened after you left the hospital? Please provide all of the detail you can remember." Pat did as he asked, giving what she thought was a detailed account of what had happened. He was a skillful interrogator and extracted more detail than Pat at first remembered. He thanked her and said, "With your permission I'd like to get you to your destination as soon as possible." Pat nodded her head. "It's a forty-minute drive to the air strip, and a two-hour flight to the base Dr. Andrews is using." He moved toward the soldiers who had carried the big man to the Jeep and then turned back to her. "Please travel in the wagon. The sergeant will drive." She could see him communicate with the man in the stretcher. Using the eye blinking method. One of the many pieces of information he had pried from her during their conversation. The trip to the air strip was uneventful. They were using a military cargo plane which was carrying a number of crates. A few rough seats had been added behind the cockpit area. Just before takeoff the officer joined her. "How is the man who was paralyzed?" she asked. "He's making a rapid recovery and has regained some mobility." He turned his emotionless gray eyes to watch her as he asked, "Did he show any signs of being under the influence of drugs? Or did he exhibit any irrational behavior before he left the wagon to go into the woods?" "No," said Pat. "He was mentally and physically alert. Did he tell you what happened before he was paralyzed?" "Yes, he claims he was paralyzed by a weapon used by a dinosaur!" Pat thought for a moment. "Perhaps he has an old head wound that was activated by the stress. The hallucination and the paralysis could be part of the same neurological problem."
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About the Book
Do you think we are abusing our environment? That humanity is a cancer covering the Earth's surface, consuming and poisoning the natural resources? A benevolent extraterrestrial called the Esper are watching and would like to help. But they have learned that the universal forces cannot be molded to the interests of intelligent beings. The whole makes corrections, often at the expense of those who try. Still, the Esper make small changes in an effort to save humanity. The picture is complicated by the Deviates, another extraterrestrial. They believe that chaos is the natural state of the whole and personal freedom is stifled by trying to maintain order. You won't like their method of putting humanity on a course to intelligent diversity. A plague that wipes out half the human population. During the first fifty years of the 21st Century, humanity modifies their genetic structure, creates computers with a sense of self, and interfaces people to machines. All of these momentous developments are woven into a tapestry of individuals in a fast moving action.
About the Author
The author is a retired engineer who designed special purpose computers for military and industrial applications. He was born in Scotland but worked mostly in the U.S.A. where he now resides.