Chapter
13
A Serialized Story of the
Not So Distant Future
April 16, 2005
Part Nineteen
Sam slept like a rock that night, possibly due to the two glasses of
wine he had drank. He didn't have a hangover in the morning, but he
found that he was incredibly thirsty.
More than anything else last night, Dean's touch had really bothered
him. There was a malevolence there which Sam could feel, it actually
sent a cold chill down to his heart. He didn't like feeling so
vulnerable either, Sam had felt like a child under the force of
Dean's hand.
Sam looked at the card for Tai Chi classes that Jose had given him. The place was fairly close by, only a few minutes by car but Sam didn't even have a license anymore. He dreaded going through the whole DMV process again.
He hesitated for a moment, he was a little nervous about making this
call but decided to anyway.
"Eastern Yoga and Martial Arts Center, may I help you." It was a
man's voice, very calm and soothing.
"Yes, my physical therapist reccomended that I take Tai Chi
classes."
"Oh yes," said the man, "we have a special class on Wedensday nights for people who are recovering from physical injuries, may I ask what sort of injury you had?"
"Um, well I had been in a coma for ten years, and my muscles had
atrophied."
"I see." There was a brief pause. "I hope you don't mind these questions, but it will help me find the proper place for you. How much mobility do you have?"
"I can walk and move my arms, but there's some stiffness in my legs
when I take full steps, as well as in my back and hips."
"Really, that's pretty remarkable for having been immobile for so
long, can you stand for at least ten minutes at a time."
"Um, yeah I think so." Sam never gave thought to the sort of time
involved.
"Well, then you could definitely attend the Wedensday class. I think you would also benefit from a secondary class as well, are you available on Fridays?"
"My schedule is wide open." Sam said.
"My name's Alex by the way, I will be your instructor. If you could come down tomorrow night at about six, I can demonstrate the basic form, and I'll be able to evaluate your ability."
"That sounds great." Sam said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Great, I'm looking forward to it."
My work for the day is done, thought Sam a bit sadly. He plopped
down on the couch and turned on the TV.
"Today a Federal Court ruled in favor of the Bashinto Seed Corp. in a class action suit brought by people who claim to have been made sick by unknowingly ingesting the genetically engineered pharmaceutical crop: Lexin 14a.
The suit was the first of it's kind, claiming that the accidental spread of the Lexin 14a seeds through cross polination, contaminated the general food supply and caused a variety of allergic reactions among those people who unknowingly ingested it.
Studies have shown that patients taking Lexinate, the drug Lexin 14a
is made into can have a variety of allergic reactions. However, the
judge ruled that even though many of the plaintiffs were able to
show that they had Lexin 14a in their systems, it wasn't a
sufficient enough quantity to cause an allergic reaction."
The screen changed to show one of the lawyers from Bashinto: "This was so obviously a frivolous lawsuit, brought mainly by those who are afraid of technological advancements, and were looking to make a quck buck at Bashinto's expense. This case should settle once and for all the debate over whether or not genetically engineered crops are safe."
Switching back to an attractive blonde Anchor woman: "Lawyers for the plaintiffs do intend on appealing the decision. They point out that Bashinto has lost a similar case in the Mexican courts, where their contaminated corn crop was blamed for the illness and deaths of over 70 people, as well as thousands of livestock across the country."
"In entertainment news, Britney Spears has been named the star atttraction for the upcoming July 4th USO show in Bhagdad. Appearing with Britney will be Teenie Marie, the 15 year old pop sensation, classic rapper Vanilla Ice, the boy band Veterans of Love, and the show's host Lauren Bush.
"You must be in the military in order to see the show, but videos will be made avaliable to the general public with funds going to support the freedom efforts in Iraq and Syria."
"This sucks," Sam said and turned off the TV again. With nothing better to do, he went out into the backyard to feel the sun on his skin. The day was warming up nicely, and it felt so good to be out in the sun.
The backyard was fairly small, there was about 20 feet of cement leading up to the garage. Nobody actually used the garage for their cars anymore. The narrow alleyways made it impractical (and in some cases impossible) to take cars in and out. Backyard garages were more like storage spaces.
Sam unlocked the door and lifted it up. It took all his strength to make it move, but he managed to do it. There was a snowblower and shovels in the front, and an old propane barbecue which their Dad used to use.
Sam's old bike was in here as well, but it was a BMX and made for a kid. Sam had his heart set on a car from the time he was fourteen, bikes were strictly for kids he thought. Robbie's old bike was there as well, and behind that, their father's.
The bike was a light green Bianchi twelve speed, Sam could remember his father riding it when he was very young. His father wore the brightly colored bike jerseys, and the shorts with the cushioning in them. He would often go out for long rides on the weekends, while Sam's Mom would joke "at least he doesn't like golf."
Sam hadn't thought about his father in a long time. His dad had been a reporter and a freelance writer, he wrote a lot of political articles particularly about exposing government waste. He had been a great Dad, although his investigations would take him out on the road for weeks at a time, whenever he was home he would spend all his time with his family.
Dad's death had been a tragic accident. He had been researching something in Wyoming (What the hell ever happened in Wyoming?) and his rental car had skidded off the road in a storm, killing him. Sam had only been 7 at the time, and didn't fully understand that his father wouldn't some day just come walking through the door the way he always did. Looking at his father's bicycle covered in dust and cobwebs suddenly brought tears to his eyes.
"God, I miss you Dad, I don't think I ever realized that before." He walked out of the garage and naturally started thinking about Gaby as well. "I miss you too Gab." He said softly.
He went back in the house and laid down on the couch. "If there's anything to this psychic stuff," he said, "I want to see Gaby."
He lied there for a long time, wanting to fall asleep and wanting to see Gaby again, but being far too awake and aware of it to actually do so. He turned on the TV again, and drifted off fairly quickly after watching five minutes of the Paris Hilton Show.
He was walking though black smoke, the bottom of a car chassis stood before him, it was a smouldering ruin. There were cries of pain all around, and despite the darkness, Sam could see a variety of bright figures moving among the crowds, one of them was Gaby.
She bent over a little girl whose body was burned almost beyond recognition. Gaby touched the child and whispered "let go" immediately the child rose out of her physical shell.
"What happened?" The little girl asked. She wasn't speaking English,
but Sam could understand her anyway.
"There was an explosion." Gaby said, "your mother is waiting for
you."
The little girl looked around frantically for a second and shouted "Mama!" Her mother, who must have died as well, Sam realized, was wandering rather aimlessly a short distance away. As soon as the daughter reached her, they hugged each other and disappeared into a golden light.
"Gab?" Sam asked.
"This isn't a good time Sam, I'm really busy right now." Gaby had moved on to the injured now, golden energy, similar to the light Sam had just seen, was emanating from her hands into the wounds of the injured.
"What is this?" Sam asked.
"Iraq, car bomb, this is what I do now. I'm a healer. We can talk
later."
"Sorry." Sam said, he drifted away from the scene aimlessly and
almost bumped into Rose.
"Sam, there's something you can do here, there's another bomb just a
few blocks away."
"What? What can I do about that?" Sam asked.
"Haven't you started remembering yet? Well come with me, I can show
you."
Rose led him through several buildings to another street. There were night clubs here, with a mixture of American troops and Iraqi citizens enjoying a night out. The street was lined with cars, and people were everywhere.
"The small black car there, just walk through the hood." Rose
instructed.
There was a young couple walking towards the car, Rose stood in front of them and shouted "GO BACK!"
The young woman screamed, and her boyfriend pulled her to his side
and started shouting something.
"You missed it." A man's voice said.
Sam turned around to see a heavy set Middle Eastern man standing next to the car. He had wide eyes and a powerful nose, Sam wondered if he was yet another member of Chapter 13.
"The bomb is still ticking, you didn't stop it."
"I don't know what I'm doing." Sam explained
The man walked through the car hood, and stopped as his middle met the driver's side window.
"Stand right here, hurry there isn't much time."
Sam glanced around for Rose, but she was zipping around the street scaring people, unfortunately, the screams were drawing more attention than ever.
Sam stepped into the car, he could feel his body passing through
it's various components, he stood where the man told him.
"Damn! It isn't working, try the battery!"
"Where?" Sam had no clue where the battery was on this model car. On impulse he moved to the passenger side, where he hoped the battery would be.
"Yes there, very good." The man said.
As Sam stepped into it, he felt the current run through him, it wasn't painful or unpleasant, but he could feel the electricity moving through his body. There was a brief smell of ozone in the air and Sam could see smoke rising from the car.
Someone yelled "BOMB!" in perfect English and people began scattering from the scene. The battery continued to smoke for a few more seconds and then Sam felt it go dead. American troops were cordoning off the area and setting up bomb detecting equipment.
"You stopped it sir, thank you." The man said.
"I don't understand what I did, or why you needed me." Sam said.
"You are not dead." The man said, "I cannot affect physical matter."
Rose had rejoined them now. "Those of us who are living have special gifts Sam. I can't interfere with physical matter the way you can, but I can make myself visible. Tomorrow there will be many storiess of the crazy old woman who appeared to warn everyone." She laughed.
"So I can touch things?"
"You can even move objects, but it takes some concentration, that's a rare gift." Rose said.
"So how come everyone else knows about this but me?" Sam asked, he ws tired of being kept in the dark.
"How did you get here today?" Rose asked.
"I don't know, I just wanted to see Gaby." Sam said.
"Next time you lie down, give yourself the suggestion to remember, keep doing it until it works. You've been avoiding us, and in doing so avoiding your memories as well. If you want to join us now, everything will start coming back."
"Thanks Rose." Sam said, he started thinking about home again and quickly found himself lying on the couch again.
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