Days of Future Past - Part 1: Past Tense Page 8

  Computers and the internet were still fairly new to me, and not that much older to most of the people back home. I'd never really used one until I got into college, but I'd been starting to get used to them, if only a little. The interface wasn't exactly anything I was used to, but I had nothing better to do with my time, so I started to click on the icons on the screen one at a time, and see what I found.

  Most of it, I didn't understand, I think I was looking at a file systems on the first few. The next several were games of some sort, one wanted a password, and then I came to a map of the city. THAT was very interesting. I could expand it to fill the entire screen, and it would let me zoom in and out on places. It even knew my current location!

  The best part was when I clicked on any particular place; it showed me a picture of it, with information about what was there. I must have spent hours just exploring the map, because I was still there when Heather got back from work.

  "Ah, found my computer I see. I wasn't sure if you'd know how to work one of those."

  "Oh, sorry. I hope you don't mind. This is a lot nicer than anything I've ever used, and this map of the city is just amazing," I said getting up and walking over to her to give her a hug.

  "Go put on a shirt while I change, and we can go get some dinner," she said, heading to the bedroom.

  "Sure," I said and followed her in, coming up behind her as she took off her vest and wrapping my arms around her from behind and kissing her on the back of the neck.

  "Umm, dinner?" she asked.

  "Can wait," I whispered in her ear. There were some hungers beyond those of food after all, and last night had definitely not been enough to sate all of my desires.

  - 8 -

  "You must have had a lot of girlfriends," Heather said with a smirk as we ate dinner. We were at a different place this evening; this one was a little nicer and had actual menus.

  "Actually, not a lot in the last year. I was so busy with work, even before the whole Navajo thing, that I rarely had time to do more than sleep when I wasn't working. Which reminds me," I said looking up at her from my plate, "I need a job. Just how do you go about finding work here?"

  "Well, what can you do?" she asked.

  I thought about that a moment, what could I do? Sure, I could teach self-defense, but that took time, which I wasn't sure I had if Coyote had plans for me. I knew how to fly, I even had my commercial license, not that it mattered here. My college degree was in political science with a minor in history. I suspected that none of that would be very useful for getting a job in this place.

  "I know how to fly airplanes," I said, "but I haven't seen any around here."

  "Airplanes?" she asked looking a little confused.

  "Like what you picked me up in, only they have a fixed wing and they fly long distances."

  "Oh, those! Yeah, I've read about those, in my history classes back in school."

  That didn't sound good. "I take it no one flies them anymore?"

  She shook her head, "No, the dragons tend to attack them."

  "Dragons? You have dragons?"

  "What, you didn't have them where you were?"

  I shook my head, "Don't they go after your, well whatever they're called."

  "The skimmers? Not really. They don't get too close to the tech centers, because they'll get shot with the laser defenses. Their scales are tough, but not that tough. It's one of the reasons, along with not having any power further than twenty miles out, that we don't fly too far from the cities."

  "Well that sucks," I sighed.

  "You could always work as an escort," she said and winked.

  "A bodyguard?" I said, not sure where she was getting at. "People need those here?"

  Heather laughed, "No, silly. You like sex and sure seem to be pretty good at it. So do it for money!"

  I was sure my jaw dropped and I looked at her rather surprised.

  "What, don't tell me you don't know about prostitution!" she giggled.

  "Oh, I know about it, I just didn't know guys could make money at it. Besides, isn't it illegal?"

  "Illegal? Why the hell would it be illegal? It's your body, and you do have such a nice one," she added with a wink and a leer.

  "Um," I shook my head; the idea of selling myself for sex was not one that appealed to me, "no."

  "It's good money I hear."

  "It could be great money. But it's not something I'm prepared to do," I said.

  "You sure?"

  "Yes, I'm very sure."

  "But you're so goooood at it!" she teased.

  "I'm good at a lot of things," I grumbled, "I just don't know if they're worth money."

  "Well, tell me what they are then."

  "I know how to fight and can teach it. I know how to research, I know how..."

  Heather interrupted me, "You know how to fight? With weapons?"

  I shrugged, "Mostly unarmed, some with knives or staves."

  "You could join the police force. You'd have to go through their school and sign a two year contract with them, to cover the costs of teaching you."

  "A contract?"

  She nodded, "They train you for ninety days, set you up with your basic equipment, and cover your medical insurance for your time under contract."

  "And what do they get?" I asked.

  "Eighty percent of your take, for those two years."

  "Wow, that's pretty steep!"

  She shrugged, "It's not all that bad. I did it. It's the only way to be guaranteed a spot in the department. You can pay to take the training on your own, but as the company doing the training is also the company that has the contract for law enforcement, it's a lot easier to get in by taking their course."

  I shook my head; things were definitely different around here. That kind of non-compete arrangement would have had the lawyers and the government up in arms back home.

  "I don't know that I'm going to be here that long," I said, instead.

  "You already told me that you have no idea how to get back home," Heather said smiling and put a hand on my leg. "Maybe you should consider staying."

  I smiled at her and put my hand on top of hers, I definitely wasn't going to say anything that was going to jeopardize my current living arrangements! Plus, she was rather attractive, and seemed to like me quite a bit. Whether that was due to my bedroom performance, or something else, I didn't know, but right now she was the only friend I had and I sure didn't want to lose her.

  Also I suspected Coyote would be paying me a visit again, and I suspected that ignoring his requests wouldn't be all that easy. I didn't think he brought me here to just sit around, get laid, and enjoy life.

  "I'm a bit uncomfortable with signing up for anything until I know just what all my options are," I told her. "Two years is a pretty big commitment to make, when I've only been here a couple of days."

  "Well, think about it," she smiled, "you'd have a place to stay," she winked at me then, "assuming you want to stay at my place."

  "Ah! The truth comes out!" I teased, "You really just want me for my body!"

  She giggled and gave me a poke in the side. The waiter came at that point and we settled up the bill, and then left walking back to her place.

  "So, I noticed you had a couple of pictures of you and that Sarah woman from that group, what was it called again?"

  "The Alder group," she sighed, "Yeah, I know Sarah, we used to be friends."

  "Uh-oh," I said, "Should I ask what happened?"

  "I used to be in the Alder group, back, back before I joined the police," she said. "I just found that I didn't like the job, being a mercenary and all. So I left. Sarah didn't take it very well," she said looking rather sad as she said it.

  "Why not?" I asked, genuinely curious.

  "Her last name is Alder; it's her family's business. I, I guess she felt a little betrayed by my leaving."

  "Oh," I said and nodded, then gave her a hug. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to upset you."

  "Oh, that's okay. It's not
so bad now; it has been a few years after all."

  I nodded, then stopping I turned and gave her a nice long kiss, pulling her close for a moment.

  "So, where to now?" I asked her.

  "Well, tomorrow is a work day, and I would like to get some sleep tonight," she said and smiled again, "so how about we go back to the apartment and get an early start?"

  I laughed and took her arm and we headed back. Apparently I wasn't the only one with a healthy appetite. Though I was just a little surprised, Heather was very attractive; I would have thought she'd have quite a few men after her favors.

  I bolted upright in the bed, sitting there, eyes wide and gasping for breath. It was dark in the room, Heather liked it dark in her bedroom, so the heavy shades were drawn, but the clock said three am, so I knew it was still dark outside. She grumbled a little in her sleep besides me, the arm she had flung over me had slid down to my waist as I had sat up.

  I had just finally, and somewhat suddenly, realized that I really was never going home again. I would never see my parents again. I would never again see any of my friends, my old girl friends, my brother, my sister, my cousins, aunts, uncles. The house I grew up in, the town I had lived in, none of it, nothing.

  All gone, all just ... gone!

  I shivered a little, I'd been here in this, well wherever I was, for months and it hadn't sunk in, not once. Maybe I'd been too busy trying to survive, trying to fit in as a slave, I didn't know. But it had hit me; it had finally just hit me. I'd been laying in a comfortable bed with a woman I had just made love to, dreaming of home, of family, of friends, and right in the middle of that I suddenly knew that it was gone. All gone.

  For good.

  I got out of bed, carefully so as to not wake Heather up, and padded quietly out into the living room. Opening the sliding doors, I went out onto the balcony. I shivered a little, it was cold outside and I was naked. But my body was a lot more used to that these days, so I ignored it.

  I looked out across the city, and it was a city, a real city, an oasis with lights and people and flying cars and all sorts of science set in the midst of a land with fantastic races and monsters and gods and goddesses and even magic.

  "Coyote, what the hell did you do to me!" I said shaking my head.

  "What I had to do." I heard behind me.

  Looking over my shoulder I saw him sitting there, at least there was enough light to make him out for once. He was grey and not very large, smaller than a wolf and bigger than a fox, about what I remembered of regular coyotes from my trips into the mountains.

  "I don't like it either," he continued. "I know I just screwed you over for the rest of your life, took you from everything you know and love, but my options were limited and I really didn't have much of a choice.

  "Besides, what else were you going to do? Go home and lick your wounds for the next decade? Think about what might have been? I'm a trickster, Paul, a whimsical and sometimes malevolent god. I screw people over for a living, but only those that have earned it."

  "And just how did I earn it?" I grumbled.

  "Why do you think I don't like it? You hadn't," Coyote admitted, "but life was doing to you a worse job than I ever could. Trust me, like I told you before, I knew where your life was heading, and you're not any worse off now, than you would have been. Here at least you have some control, and the rewards are definitely going to be a lot better."

  "I still want to strangle you."

  "Why? Don't you like Heather?"

  I looked back at him a moment, "Heather?"

  "What, you don't think being falsely accused of murder and mayhem is something I can't do?" he said looking particularly smug.

  I just shook my head and looked out over the city again.

  "So, now what?" I asked after a minute.

  "You need to go to Camp Pendleton, north, of course."

  "Why? Why should I bother?"

  "Oh, maybe because Riggs finding you there first will piss him off?"

  I shook my head, "Revenge is nice, but staying here and just getting fat, dumb, and lazy sure sounds a lot more attractive right now." I turned and looked at him, "even without the fringe benefits," and I nodded back towards where Heather was sleeping.

  "The Navajo may very well end up extinct without your help, Paul."

  "Oh, I'm sure Riggs will win out in the end, like you said, he's just the kind of asshole that the gods prefer."

  "But I'm not prepared to take that chance, Paul. Besides, you even said it yourself; you actually liked them. For all that Riggs put you in a bad spot, they still treated you fairly."

  I sighed, loudly, it was a good point. But still, I wasn't sure it was enough. Yeah, I hated seeing people get screwed over or bullied. My own problems as a child had been over my own little escapades of taking a few assholes in my school down a peg.

  "Look out at the city," Coyote said.

  Turning around, I saw that it was suddenly daylight, the buildings were all in ruins, and everything had been destroyed. An army of something that wasn't people, marched through the streets in black armor, and a dragon sat atop one of the larger ruined buildings, watching, waiting for something.

  "Nice," I said, "I bet you could make a great living at Industrial Light and Magic."

  The scene faded to be replaced by the real city once more, lit up in the dark.

  "The future is always hard to see, even for a god." Coyote said in a fairly conversational tone. "But as a trickster, I have a better grasp of it than most. After all, how will I know if my tricks will work, if I can't see the results beforehand?"

  "So, you want me to believe that's the future if I don't do your bidding?"

  Coyote shrugged, "That's the future if Riggs fails. Whether or not he succeeds without your help, I don't know, but I suspect. So if you won't do it for my people, do it for this city."

  I sighed and shook my head, "You are a real bastard, you know that?"

  Coyote laughed, "Of course I am, it is my nature. Just as it is yours to want to stop bad people from doing bad things. Saving the world is your nature."

  "I thought that was what you got Riggs for?"

  He laughed again, "I said that the gods got him, because they liked and understood him. The gods don't do things to see good triumph over evil, Paul."

  "Oh? So why do they then?" I asked, rather curious.

  "Why, to get acclaim and worship of course!"

  "So, assuming that I do decide to go, what are you going to do, to help me? I'm going to need money, weapons, people, maps, intelligence. Hell, what is this 'weapon' I need to get?"

  "Weapons, multiple. It's the base armory. It's untouched and intact. You've been there, so you should be able to find it. Just don't take them all."

  I nodded, "Okay, but what about the rest of it?"

  "Sorry, I can't actually give you anything. I can't manifest anything in the material world."

  "Then just how am I supposed to get everything I need?" I asked, turning around and facing him.

  "Oh, I'm sure you'll figure something out."

  "Well, a little help would be nice," I complained.

  "Oh, don't worry. You'll be getting all the help that I can give!"

  And with that he disappeared suddenly as the sliding door opened.

  "Paul! What are you doing out here? It's freezing!" Heather said, looking at me.

  "I had a bad dream, so I wanted to just look at the city for a while," I told her and came back inside. Closing the door behind me, I gave her a hug.

  "Hey! You're freezing!"

  "After wearing nothing more than a scrap of leather for five months, it doesn't bother me all that much," I said with a shrug.

  "Well, I guess that explains your lack of a tan line," she giggled. "So, what was your dream about?"

  "Home, my family, my friends," I said, taking her hand and leading her back to the bedroom. Crawling between some warm sheets sounded rather good right now, as the cold was finally starting to bother me.

  "
How can that be a bad dream?" she asked.

  "Because I know I'll never see them again," I told her. "My coming here was a one-way trip, and they probably all think I'm dead now."

  "Oh, you can't be sure of that! I'm sure someone knows about your home in the city, somewhere. All of the high tech towns do keep in touch; I'm sure someone knows about your home and can send them a message."

  I sat down on the bed and pulled her into my lap and gave her a kiss.

  "What's that for?" she asked, leaning into me.

  "For being so nice to me," I said and kissed her again. "Now, let's get back under the covers where it's warm."

  - 9 -

  I'd gotten Heather to show me how to use her computer before she left for work, at least as far as how to find people or places in the city so I could start looking for a job. I called up the information on Sarah Alder and the Alder group. They were located on the other side of town from here, but at least I could take a bus. So twenty minutes later I was on a bus headed to the other side of town.

  I didn't know how Heather would feel about it, so I didn't bring it up with her, but I was fairly certain that Sarah would know more about the world outside of Havsue, and if anyone might have some ideas on how I might make enough money to fund a little expedition, it would be her.

  Besides, she'd said I could look her up, so I didn't see any harm in doing so. I had to start somewhere after all.

  When I got there, I was surprised to see an actual storefront at the address. The name on the front of the store was 'Alder Expeditions and Recovery services' and going inside there were a number of display cases with a wild assortment of items for sale in them. I noticed quite a few of them were rather old looking, and a couple were exotic devices that I really had no idea what they were.

  "Can I help you?" A young woman asked, coming out of the back and standing behind the counter.