[socialpoll id=”2526583″]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here’s a fragment of a story I’ve been working on forever.\u00a0 Maybe putting it up here will give me the push to edit it and finish it off.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019ve got a bad habit.\u00a0 I\u2019ve gotta have my say.\u00a0 A smart man knows when to shut up.\u00a0 I don\u2019t.\u00a0 When I get mad I say stuff and it almost always comes back to bite me.<\/p>\n So, I headed out on Wednesday night after work.\u00a0 I didn’t have any big plans.\u00a0 Dollars were scarce so I didn’t head to the bar.\u00a0 I’d heard there was going to be a gathering of disaffected types at the park at eight o’clock so at about that time I was across the street from there parking my Crown Vic.\u00a0 I could see a pretty good crowd, maybe three or four hundred, and hear cheers and silences interspersed.\u00a0 Someone must’ve been going pretty strong because the whole crowd was rooted in place and I couldn’t find a space to get through the throng to see who was talking.\u00a0 I circled around until I was behind the speaker and about fifty feet away.\u00a0 I could finally make out what he was saying.\u00a0 The speaker had a strong deep voice and a pretty good speaking style.\u00a0 His vocabulary was basic.\u00a0 He didn’t sound like a college boy but he definitely knew how to hold a crowd’s attention.\u00a0 \u201cI mean how much longer do we have to wait for this country to wake up?\u00a0 When the NSA, IRS and HHS get to decide what you can say and how much of your own money you can keep and who your doctor will be, don’t you think it’s about time to kick these bums out of office and bring in the other set of bums to see if they’ll do any better.\u00a0 But honest to God, I’m starting to think we need to start from scratch.\u201d\u00a0 At this point a huge roar went up from the crowd.\u00a0 I think I even let out a whoop.\u00a0 This got the attention of the guy in front of me in the crowd.\u00a0 He turned around and looked at me in a sort of mildly quizzical way.\u00a0 I said, \u201cWhatsamattafella, don’t like anybody griping about the dear leader’s shock troops?\u201d<\/p>\n He absorbed my taunt, smiled faintly and answered, \u201cI’m not familiar with the specific events in question but I believe the general tenor reflects dissatisfaction with an overreaching bureaucracy.\u201d<\/p>\n I’m guessing my expression was more than just quizzical.\u00a0 I was trying to figure out what was strangest about his answer.\u00a0 So, I said, \u201cOh, so you think he’s dissatisfied?\u00a0 Where have you been for the last five years?\u201d<\/p>\n He gave me the same mild smile and said, \u201cI’ve been away for a long time.\u00a0 I’m hoping to catch up on current conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n I was trying to figure this out.\u00a0 He didn’t have a foreign accent but there was something odd about his cadence.\u00a0 I started, \u201cWell unless you\u2019ve been trapped under the frozen surface of Ganymede\u2026 but before I could finish that comic gem a bright light dazzled my eyes.\u00a0 A loudspeaker erupted into life, \u201cEveryone stay in place.\u00a0 This unauthorized assembly has been declared treasonous.\u00a0 Everyone here is under arrest.\u00a0 Anyone resisting will be subdued by whatever means is deemed necessary.\u00a0 Escape is impossible. \u00a0Aerial drones have been emplaced.<\/p>\n At first, I was in shock.\u00a0 It seemed surreal.\u00a0 Presently I became annoyed.<\/p>\n I turned to my neighbor and said, \u201cI don\u2019t know about you but I sure don\u2019t want to let these bozos take me in, especially without a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n He hesitated and then replied, \u201cThe authorities indicate that they possess an overwhelming advantage in respect to available force.\u00a0 Would it not be wise to acquiesce to their demands?\u201d<\/p>\n I smiled back at him and said, \u201cOnly if you completely lack honor.\u201d\u00a0 This seemed to strike a nerve and I could see his facial muscles tense momentarily.<\/p>\n Then he relaxed and replied, \u201cThat is a very important distinction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay then, let\u2019s start fading back toward those trees over there and lose these morons.\u201d<\/p>\n I put my plan into operation and my new friend fell in line without further discussion.\u00a0 We managed to get about hundred yards between us and the crowd without any problems and I was breathing a little easier when we were hailed by a voice coming from behind us.\u00a0 \u201cStop where you are and put your hands over your head.\u201d\u00a0 I put my hands up.<\/p>\n My friend looked at me and asked, \u201cWhere is the honor in this?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, if you\u2019ve got a way of getting out of this without getting shot in the back, I\u2019m with you,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n Almost as soon as I said this a blinding flash dazzled my eyes.\u00a0 This caught me completely by surprise and I was trying to blink some sight back into my eyes when a hand grabbed me by the arm and yanked me into motion.\u00a0 Figuring there was nothing to lose I ran in the direction of the pull and hoped there weren\u2019t any low hanging tree branches ahead.\u00a0 Eventually my vision cleared and I could see we had come out on the far side of the park and no one was behind us.\u00a0 We slowed down to a walk and found a diner to wait in.\u00a0 Once the waitress had taken our orders and left, I started to talk.<\/p>\n \u201cHow did you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a high-powered flash tube.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah but why did you have it with you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI sometimes find it useful in my line of endeavor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen which are you, a Stage Magician or a Ninja?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am a type of researcher.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlright we can go into our astonishing histories later.\u00a0 Let\u2019s figure out what we do now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay so, uh\u2026\u00a0 Hey what\u2019s your name anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can call me Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay Joe, I\u2019m Jake.\u00a0 That should be enough info to get us through this party.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am pleased to make your acquaintance.\u201d<\/p>\n I got the feeling that if he had been standing, he might have clicked his heels together and slightly bowed his head.\u00a0 Something about Joe\u2019s speech bothered me.\u00a0 I think it was that he sounded unworried.\u00a0 And that definitely seemed out of place to me.\u00a0 Myself, I was pretty close to panic.\u00a0 The police raid was a nightmare that apparently, I wasn\u2019t going to wake up from.\u00a0 Puzzling over our surprising success at avoiding arrest so far was the only thing that was keeping me from wallowing in a pit of despair.\u00a0 I knew that the emergency powers that this administration was wielding had grown enormously in the last couple of years but I had had no idea how pervasive the loss of personal freedom had become.\u00a0 Now I did.<\/p>\n I said, \u201cIt\u2019s good to meet you too Joe.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to get my car and head home but I have a feeling they would stop me if I went back to the park.<\/p>\n Joe said, \u201cI think that would be the likeliest outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell what if I just head home and wait this out?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do not believe you can avoid pursuit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we were detected by the authorities I am certain I heard a biometric scanning sensor registering our profiles.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow could you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am very familiar with the model currently employed in this jurisdiction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh come on!\u00a0 Who are you?\u00a0 Batman?\u201d<\/p>\n A slight quizzical expression passed over his face and then he actually smiled.\u00a0 \u201cJake, I can guarantee you that is not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n Now I was getting really scared.\u00a0 \u201cJoe do you have any ideas at this point?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA tactical retreat would seem to be the most reasonable option.\u00a0 This would provide time to gather more information for a more permanent solution.\u201d<\/p>\n My mind was racing.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, I guess we have to, but I\u2019m worried about what would go on with my family if I left them holding the bag.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that staying out of custody represents your best option for modifying the status quo in your favor.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is spinning out of control, what if I turn myself in?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBased on the current legal framework and our actions up to this point I would approximate the sentence to be one to three years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnlawful assembly, sedition, resisting arrest, assault on a peace officer and fleeing the scene of a crime.\u201d<\/p>\n You forgot loitering and jay-walking!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThose are not significant charges and unlikely to be added to the indictment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever mind.\u00a0 I\u2019m sold.\u00a0 How do we get out of here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have a vehicle seven blocks from here.\u00a0 That will be the best means of exiting the immediate area.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay lead on MacDuff.\u201d<\/p>\n I placed twenty bucks on the table and we quickly headed for the door.\u00a0 The street was pretty empty and I expected at any moment to be challenged but we made the seven blocks without incident.\u00a0 The street we were on was mostly lined with single-story commercial\/industrial properties.\u00a0 A third of the way up the block we stopped in front of an auto repair garage and Joe opened an office door with a key.\u00a0 We entered and walked through an office and another door onto the floor of the garage.\u00a0 It was a large space at least three hundred feet deep and it looked as if it hadn\u2019t been used in a while.\u00a0 The place was littered with junk and all of the lights and utilities seemed to be missing.\u00a0 There was a gutted bathroom on one wall and I could see where the walls had been opened to steal the plumbing lines.\u00a0 Joe walked calmly and quickly through the dark space until we were at the back wall.\u00a0 A painter\u2019s drop cloth was covering something there.\u00a0 He pulled it off and I looked to see Joe\u2019s ride.\u00a0 I stared at it for a full minute.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, what the hell is that? \u201c<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a custom automobile.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, come on!\u00a0 Where\u2019s the windows, where\u2019s the doors?\u00a0 For God sakes it only has one wheel!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is gyroscopically stabilized and the windows are modified for one-way viewing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, so we\u2019ll just nonchalantly drive down Main Street and stop over at the Exxon for a tank full of plutonium.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis vehicle is not powered with trans-uranic isotopes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, that\u2019s a relief, for a minute I thought we were going to have a hard time blending in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believe our best chance of evading pursuit is to leave this vicinity as soon as possible.\u00a0 Would you like to enter the vehicle now?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike has very little to do with it, but let\u2019s go before I pass out.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe pressed a small remote control and the car surprisingly made that goofy noise that remote door openers make when they work.\u00a0 I gave a nervous laugh.\u00a0 \u201cI expected a more Star Trek kind of noise.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was trying to blend in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe got in on the left (which I guess was slightly comforting) and I got in on the passenger side.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give him credit for one thing, that was the most comfortable bucket seat I\u2019d ever sat on.\u00a0 I doubt the cockpit of an F-16 was any better for padding.\u00a0 And he was right, once the doors closed (and don\u2019t ask me how they opened, \u2018cause I couldn\u2019t see it happen) the front and sides of the car were mostly transparent.\u00a0 And just to freak me out a little more, the damn things had some kind of night vision thing going on.\u00a0 The garage looked like it was daylight.\u00a0 I could see everything and I had barely been able to navigate that dark space when I was walking in it before.\u00a0 \u201cAlright Joe, you are Batman.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJake, I do not understand your repeated references to this fictional character.\u00a0 I am not fictitious and I am not employed in the field of amateur criminal justice, I assure you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLook, what am I supposed to think you are?\u00a0 A little green man from Mars or a super-genius working for the underground Kingdom of the Mole-men?<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot tell you everything you want to know.\u00a0 Would it be enough to tell you that I am a man just as you are and that I am only trying to help you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do you want to help me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believe this began because you pointed out that it would have been dishonorable to surrender to an illegal display of force.\u00a0 I agree with that conclusion and therefore find in you an ally.\u00a0 Would you prefer to proceed alone at this point?\u201d<\/p>\n So, there I was.\u00a0 I had followed the white rabbit down the hole and if nothing else seemed clear at least I could hope Joe wasn\u2019t working for the Obama administration.<\/p>\n \u201cNo Joe, at this point I can use all the help I can get.\u00a0 Only let\u2019s not pretend you\u2019re a mild-mannered reporter working for a great metropolitan newspaper.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAgreed.\u00a0 When we have time, I will answer as many of your questions as I am allowed.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe drove the car to the front of the building, got out and manually cranked a garage door open.\u00a0 He got back in the vehicle and we headed out onto the street.\u00a0 The street we were on had a posted speed limit of 20 mph.\u00a0 The windshield had a column of readouts and numbers and symbols abounded.\u00a0 One display seemed to track with our speed and based on it, we seemed to be travelling at 19 mph.\u00a0 This speed did not inspire me with confidence in our chances of escape.\u00a0 We got about ten blocks before we stopped at a red light.\u00a0 The stares of the people in the cars around us waiting for the light were truly comical.\u00a0 One guy got out and walked completely around us.\u00a0 I think he thought we were part of a prank show and wanted to be on TV.\u00a0 Finally, about a block past the light a cop car put on his lights and began a pursuit.\u00a0 Joe ignored the cop and continued to drive straight.\u00a0 When the patrol car was right behind us we heard his PA system warn us.\u00a0 \u201cPull over and turn off your engine.\u201d\u00a0 I got Joe\u2019s attention and started talking.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, what are you going to do?\u201d\u00a0 He looked at me for a second and then turned back to the windshield.\u00a0 \u201cI plan to evade his pursuit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will exceed the velocity his car can maintain.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know about that Joe, those patrol cars have a lot of oomph nowadays.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJake, please believe me when I say that this vehicle is highly capable.\u201d<\/p>\n As if in support of his statement he accelerated up to 50 mph.\u00a0 The cop followed suit and was right on our tail.\u00a0 I could hear the siren wailing and pretty soon two more blue and white patrol cars joined the pursuit.\u00a0 Two blocks up Joe turned onto the highway entrance ramp.\u00a0 I noticed that he very politely used his right signal (despite its outlandish appearance this vehicle seemed almost street legal!) before the turn.\u00a0 Joe continued to accelerate and soon we were going 95 mph.\u00a0 At this point there were five cars in pursuit and they were attempting to get in front of us to slow us down.\u00a0 Joe proved a very skillful driver and eventually we were pulling away from them at 120 mph.\u00a0 At that point a couple of staties showed up.\u00a0 Joe attempted to outrun them but they were right behind us and I could tell they were going to try some maneuver to force us to crash.\u00a0 I yelled, \u201cJoe, you\u2019re gonna need another gear, these guys mean business!\u201d\u00a0 He replied, \u201cYes, another gear.\u201d\u00a0 There was a row of flip switches on the side of his arm rest.\u00a0 The first closest to him was flipped to the right.\u00a0 All the rest were to the left.\u00a0 He flipped the second switch.\u00a0 The engine which up till now had been virtually silent started to give off a barely perceptible hum.\u00a0 Joe accelerated again and pretty soon his speedometer showed 185 mph.\u00a0 The staties receded pretty quickly behind us and I was experiencing motion sickness as the landscape flashed by like a grand prix video game. \u00a0I should have expressed my admiration for Joe\u2019s manifestly amazing driving skills (or those of his autopilot) but I was thoroughly dizzy watching the road whizz by.\u00a0 By this point we were out in the country and the road was pretty empty but it was still a pretty harrowing sight.\u00a0 I can only imagine what the other drivers were thinking.\u00a0 Up ahead I saw some staties parked along the side of the road and I was too slow to warn Joe that they had probably set up nail strips to blow out his tires.\u00a0 I could feel us go over something but we never even slowed down.\u00a0 Whatever his tires were they must not have been rubber.\u00a0 After that, at intervals, I saw cop cars but we continued unhampered.\u00a0 So I looked at my watch and saw that we had been on the road for only thirty minutes.\u00a0 It felt more like a month. \u00a0My mind was racing and I guessed that this breathing space would be the calm before the next storm.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, where do we go from here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am looking for a stretch of road that is shielded from aerial surveillance in order to exit this expressway undetected.\u00a0 I believe the unorthodox appearance of my vehicle has invited undue scrutiny by the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou figured that out, did you?\u00a0 Nothing gets past you does it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe geographical database I use indicates that we are passing through heavily wooded areas that contain numerous logging roads that aren\u2019t actively frequented at this time.\u00a0 I plan to secrete the vehicle in this area for the time being to provide the opportunity for a more strategic analysis of our circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLay low?<\/p>\n \u201cEssentially.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLead on Macduff.\u201d<\/p>\n A few minutes later he slowed down to 100 mph and we slingshot off the exit ramp and disappeared into the inky blackness of an unlit secondary road.\u00a0 At least that\u2019s how it would have seemed to someone watching from outside the car.\u00a0 But inside it might as well have been broad daylight.\u00a0 I could see everything around, even the trees behind the other trees.\u00a0 If I had thought about it I would have been amazed.\u00a0 But at the time I was pre-occupied with thoughts of prison.\u00a0 We drove for another hour and then stopped and Joe shut down the engine.<\/p>\n So, there we were.\u00a0 Hunkered down amid the sylvan splendor of the forest primeval (or what passes for it today) and each separately reviewing the situation.\u00a0 Joe was punching away at a strange keyboard and muttering inaudibly at the windshield while I played over in my head the events of the last few hours.\u00a0 It would be an understatement to describe my mood as panicked.\u00a0 I tried to imagine a scenario where I walked away from this intact and the only thing that came to mind was that it was a nightmare and I would wake up eventually.\u00a0 But my natural pessimism wouldn\u2019t allow me to kid myself.\u00a0 Finally, Joe turned from the windshield to me and said, \u201cJake, I have completed my analysis and I can try to answer your questions.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah but let\u2019s stretch our legs first.\u00a0 I can\u2019t sit anymore.\u201d\u00a0 So we got out and I tried to avoid poison ivy while making a pit stop.\u00a0 Joe followed my lead on the other side of the vehicle and we reconvened in the front of his car.<\/p>\n So, I said, \u201cOkay lay it on me Jasper, what in the name of all that\u2019s undreamt of in my philosophy is going on here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJake, you have unwittingly become an accomplice to a criminal act.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo Joe, I kinda thought I was looking for trouble when I went to that rally and I definitely knew I was upping the ante when I decided to bug out of there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou misunderstand me, the criminal act was not us going to the rally.\u00a0 I refer to my subsequent actions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t get your point, we\u2019re equally guilty in the eyes of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have not made myself clear, I am not referring to the local authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre the feds after you for something?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo a little more serious than that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Russian Mafia?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJake, my status at that gathering was supposed to be as a passive observer.\u00a0 In that capacity I am forbidden from altering the course of events in any meaningful way.\u00a0 In addition, I have also garnered an embarrassing amount of attention from the local authorities and media reports.\u00a0 This is even more serious than the initial interference.\u201d<\/p>\n I winced a little and interrupted, \u201cSo you\u2019re not Batman, you\u2019re Captain Kirk?\u201d\u00a0 This time he laughed out loud and continued for several seconds.\u00a0 When he had subsided, he smiled back at me and replied, \u201cI find your fictional analogies very amusing.\u00a0 I am glad that you can process this situation in a calm and measured fashion.\u00a0 Many individuals would not handle these facts as well.\u00a0 I have seen cases that required sedation and other problematic methods.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe you are mistaking sarcasm for nonchalance.\u00a0 I\u2019m scared out of my wits right now and all I keep hoping is I\u2019ll wake up from a fever dream and all this, including you, will just have been a figment of my delirious imagination.<\/p>\n This sobered him up.\u00a0 He replied, \u201cI understand your trepidation.\u00a0 But I do not have an easy solution for either of us.\u00a0 You are involved with a very serious partisan vendetta that does not bode well for either your personal safety or the future of your nation.\u00a0 I have compromised my status with several regulatory organizations which possess resources and authority that can threaten my freedom and existence at any time.\u00a0 We will be hard pressed to avoid complete disaster but I have formulated a course of action which, if successful, might allow us both to escape relatively unscathed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, look, don\u2019t think I\u2019m uninterested in your plan but what I really want to know is what the hell are you?\u201d<\/p>\n I am a researcher sent to study the current political and economic events here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVarious localities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre all of them on planet Earth?\u201d<\/p>\n This stopped him cold for ten whole seconds.\u00a0 \u201cJake, why would you ask such an odd question?\u00a0 Where else could I be working?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know Joe, but I notice you didn\u2019t answer the question.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked at me for a few seconds more and asked, \u201cAre you sure you want to know?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I guess I do.\u201d<\/p>\n He was quiet for almost a minute and then began, \u201cI am currently working with ten different cultures, four of which are human.\u00a0 The cultures that do not reside on earth vary greatly in technology level, biological structure and social sophistication.\u00a0 The nearest other spatial location is currently four thousand light years from earth.\u00a0 That species inhabits a solar system for which the stellar component is a white dwarf nearing the end of its thermal stability.\u00a0 The home planet has a surface temperature of minus 150 degrees Celsius.\u00a0 Surprisingly, this species is going through a very similar political crisis to your own, even though if you could observe that world, you might not recognize the existence of a civilized race there at all.\u00a0 The temperature there renders all their movements extremely slow.\u201d<\/p>\n So now I was looking for the Candid Camera guy to jump out and tell me I was on TV.\u00a0 I had insisted he tell me what seemed like the only possible explanation for everything that had happened.\u00a0 But once he actually said it, it sounded nuts.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t say anything at first, I cleared my throat a couple of times but I couldn\u2019t think of what to say.\u00a0 Joe broke in, \u201cI realize that this may be hard for you to reconcile with your previous assumptions concerning your place in the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, you\u2019re gonna have to give me a minute.\u00a0 I\u2019m a little overwhelmed here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not unusual for disorientation to ensue after extremely anomalous data is encountered.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlright Spock, shut up for a second or I\u2019m gonna show you how accurate a haymaker from a disoriented son of a bitch can be.\u201d<\/p>\n This seemed to work.\u00a0 He remained silent and his expression became sort of blank.\u00a0 I noticed that he took a couple of steps back.<\/p>\n There was an awkward silence and I took the few minutes to clear my head and figure out what my next move would be.\u00a0 I felt it was just as likely that Joe was an agent of some foreign country as he was of being ET.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t figure out what I could do to improve my situation but listing alternate explanations for what was going on helped calm me down.\u00a0 I took a couple of deep breaths and turned my attention back to the local situation.\u00a0 Joe was looking a little more anxious and showed relief when I caught his eye.<\/p>\n \u201cAlright Joe, I\u2019ve peeled myself off the ceiling.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry for what I said before.\u00a0 I\u2019m not normally that belligerent but I was up to my eyeballs in adrenaline and needed a second to re-adjust my grip on reality.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded his head and said, \u201cI am relieved to hear that you have adjusted to the information I provided earlier.\u00a0 I was not sure that I should have told you the truth but I believe that the disorientation would have been even more disturbing if it came during a practical demonstration of the reality without being prefaced by a verbal explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, so Buck Rodgers has entered the 25th century.\u00a0 What happens now?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have accessed the online database for law enforcement.\u00a0 They have not yet analyzed the scan to identify you from last night.\u00a0 Also the description of our escape is sufficiently vague as to not immediately cause undue anxiety by the entities I work for.\u00a0 My plan is to gain access to the database and erase our information from last night.\u00a0 After that I will evaluate whether any other fallout has occurred and formulate countermeasures to either minimize the damage or protect us from the immediate consequences thereby allowing time to formulate further measures.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we\u2019re going for a ride.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn two hours.\u00a0 That will coincide with the shift change for the highway patrol in this area and the period of lowest surveillance capability in our immediate vicinity.\u00a0 Also, the forecasted cloud cover will effectively eliminate satellite surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSwell.\u00a0 By any chance have you got any food in that hot rod of yours?\u00a0 I was gonna stop off after the rally to have a burger.\u00a0 If we\u2019re gonna be going all night at this I\u2019m gonna need something to eat at some point.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have some food stuffs.\u00a0 You are welcome to them but I\u2019m not sure if you will like them.\u00a0 After all taste is variable.\u201d<\/p>\n This got me thinking.\u00a0 What kind of food would a spaceman eat?\u00a0 It might be wise to hold off until we got to a store or restaurant.\u00a0 Joe walked over to the vehicle and opened a compartment in the back.\u00a0 He took out a small bag and walked over to where I was standing and handed it to me.\u00a0 It was just an ordinary insulated lunch bag that you might get at Walmart and inside it had a bunch of candy bars, specifically Mounds bars.\u00a0 Apparently, spacemen liked cocoanut.\u00a0 And actually, so do I, so I ate a couple of them.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, isn\u2019t junk food a little primitive for someone of your background?\u00a0 I mean don\u2019t you, spacemen subsist on amino acids and mineral supplements?\u201d<\/p>\n He looked very quizzical.<\/p>\n \u201cI told you I am as human as you are.\u00a0 Now granted that a Mounds bar is not the most healthy item but why would I not eat this type of food?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell after what you\u2019ve admitted, I assumed that was a lie.\u00a0 If you are human, how did you get involved with the groups that you are with?\u00a0 Were you captured and forced to help them?\u00a0 Or are you selling out your people for better treatment?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want to assure you that I am not working against the interests of the human race.\u00a0 In fact, most of my immediate associates are humans.\u00a0 I was born and still reside on Earth.\u00a0 We represent Earth with the organizations I alluded to.\u00a0 My association with life-forms from outside our solar system is not sinister.\u00a0 It is hidden knowledge but our association is mutually beneficial and one day it will be seen as such.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell you seem to have an answer for everything but I gotta say Joe, there\u2019s something you\u2019re not telling me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI said I would tell you as much as I could but you see that this information is disturbing.\u00a0 I will not lie to you but I will only tell you as much as you need to know to believe me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFine, let\u2019s table it for now.\u00a0 You can convince me you\u2019re a man in black later.\u201d<\/p>\n When it was time, we got back in the car.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t very enthusiastic about our mission.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure what Joe was up to but I was starting to think I should bail on this deal and take my chances with the cops.\u00a0 It was just becoming too weird.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are we headed?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am going to access the federal law enforcement database from a dedicated station that we set up in Arlington Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWait, why can\u2019t you do that remotely?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause I don\u2019t personally have the computer expertise to navigate the protocols necessary to access that database undetected.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot very super-human of you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all have our limitations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cApparently.\u00a0 I was hoping you could take care of a few problems with my IRS file but I guess I\u2019ll let it slide.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a humorous jibe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLook at you!\u00a0 Actually, I could stand for them to lose some of the stuff they\u2019ve been hassling me with.\u00a0 But I did enjoy the dig.\u00a0 It helps to break the tension once in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will consider that.\u00a0 I also have experienced excess levels of emotional stress.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d better start slow.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think humor is your strong suit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn my community I have been described as droll.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, Dangerfield.\u00a0 When we get a break in the action you can try your stand-up act on me.\u00a0 For now, let\u2019s get this show on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAgreed.\u201d<\/p>\n We got back in the car and started down the road.\u00a0 It was now about midnight.\u00a0 When we got back on the expressway Joe cranked it back up to 185 mph and we headed for the D.C. area.\u00a0 Even at that speed we were a couple of hours away.\u00a0 I was wondering when we would start getting police attention and it wasn\u2019t long before I found out.\u00a0 About 10 minutes into the trip a couple of cruisers tried to catch up to us.\u00a0 They quickly receded behind us.\u00a0 Next, a police helicopter started shadowing us.\u00a0 He had a spotlight trained on the car.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, how is this going to work?\u00a0 I\u2019m guessing you can\u2019t let the copter follow us to your hidden lair.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is correct.\u00a0 But we have a more pressing issue.\u201d<\/p>\n I looked down the road and swore under my breath.\u00a0 The entire width of the road was blocked with cruisers backed up by jersey barriers.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe this is bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnother gear.\u201d\u00a0 He reached down and flipped the third switch.\u00a0 The engine hum got slightly louder and the pitch rose noticeably.\u00a0 The speedometer shot up to 250 mph and just as we reached the front of the patrol cars we rose up off the ground and left the highway behind.\u00a0 I distinctly recall the cops scurrying away from us and one guy looking back at us had the most comical expression of a man in uniform since Don Knotts.\u00a0 Our speed increased until it read 400 mph.\u00a0 We left the police chopper far behind and headed into the night.<\/p>\n I guess if that cop could have seen my face through the side of our car he would have seen an equally funny expression.\u00a0 I think my heart must have skipped quite a few beats when we transitioned from land travel to air.\u00a0 Once the excitement subsided and I started breathing again, I tried to frame a rational question to Joe: \u201cAre we safe in this thing?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe looked over at me and said: \u201cThis vehicle is extremely capable.\u00a0 We will have no problem travelling to our destination.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow is it possible that this thing can fly?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you inquiring as to the general principles of aerodynamics or the specifics of this vehicle\u2019s propulsion?\u00a0 In either case I will have to plead ignorance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure you must have a general idea how it works.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know how an internal combustion engine works?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut do you know how your computer functions?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I guess I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose that as the complexity of technology increases, the proportion of users competent to explain it varies inversely.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, I guess that makes sense.\u00a0 Is this thing expensive?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is extremely valuable but I do not personally own it.\u00a0 It\u2019s a tool provided by my employer that I utilize for my work so I do not know its exact value.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFair enough.\u00a0 Joe, at this point I don\u2019t think this incident will escape the popular press.\u00a0 I mean this doesn\u2019t seem like something that will be overlooked.\u00a0 The highway patrols from several states are already involved.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn the contrary, your current federal administration has been very successful at sequestering information that it deems embarrassing or dangerous to its own interests.\u00a0 I believe this incident would fall into both of those classes, at least temporarily until it has been analyzed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlright, you\u2019ve convinced me.\u00a0 Lead on Macduff.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd cursed be he who first cries hold, enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Now I took a double take, \u201cSo they teach the Bard on Proxima Centauri?\u201d<\/p>\n The same faint smile, \u201cThe Centauri super-system is uninhabitable, but William Shakespeare is studied both as art and as an historical source in many systems much farther away than that.\u00a0 Would you believe me if I told you that there are students of Hamlet on worlds that are not even within the local cluster of galaxies that the Milky Way belongs to?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo Joe, I wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0 And I thought you weren\u2019t going to tell me anything I didn\u2019t need to know?\u00a0 You know my delicate psyche can\u2019t cope with nameless things from abysmal space.\u201d<\/p>\n His face took on a pained expression.\u00a0 \u201cJake, please do not quote Lovecraft.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, Cthulhu a close personal friend of yours?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cActually, the types of beings Lovecraft imagined is one of the least offensive aspects of his story telling.\u00a0 Doubtlessly he had a vivid imagination.\u00a0 But I find his prose style almost unbelievably bad and reading his stories almost painful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell he was probably getting paid by the word.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo was Dickens.\u00a0 But Lovecraft never could have written A Tale of Two Cities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s a critic.\u00a0 Look, literary criticism is all well and good but what I need to know is what I\u2019m here for?\u00a0 I\u2019m guessing you won\u2019t need any help hacking the government databases with your systems already in place.\u00a0 Am I basically waiting for the all clear to head back home?\u201d<\/p>\n He thought for a second.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t see that you have much choice.\u00a0 If I am too late or unsuccessful in modifying our records you will not be able to return home at all.\u00a0 If you come along you\u2019ll find out soonest what your situation is and be able to act upon the result immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n That was not a comforting thought.\u00a0 I said, \u201cJoe that was not a comforting thought.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are very few real-world situations where absolute certainty exists.\u00a0 We must always be prepared to analyze possible outcomes in order to optimize a result by means of interim actions.\u00a0 We must not allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ll need to worry about that.\u00a0 We haven\u2019t even come within shouting distance of dismal yet.\u00a0 I\u2019ll definitely warn you if perfect shows up in time for you to put a stop to it.\u00a0 But I wonder if maybe we can discuss what these backup plans look like.\u00a0 Do they involve me becoming a space pirate?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no such thing as a space pirate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSpace pirate, space cowboy, space renegade.\u00a0 Let\u2019s not quibble over terms.\u00a0 Will we be on the run from your people and travelling in outer space?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are certain circumstances that might require non-terrestrial travel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI knew it!\u00a0 Well, fine!\u00a0 Just make sure that I see something worthwhile.\u00a0 How about we check out Saturn\u2019s rings close up?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJake, this is not a game.\u00a0 Only under the greatest duress will we leave earth.\u00a0 I am attempting to eliminate the need but I said I would not lie so I will not deny the possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know what that means.\u00a0 If we do go off-world, probably the only thing I\u2019ll be able to see will be ship hangars and non-descript buildings.\u00a0 It\u2019ll probably look like Bayonne.\u201d<\/p>\n This reply seemed to give him pause.\u00a0 For the first time I detected a hint of annoyance, \u201cYou seem quite quarrelsome.\u00a0 Is this your typical behavior or a reaction to the present situation?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReaction I guess.\u00a0 I\u2019m usually regarded as the gold standard of courtesy and cheerful good fellowship by all that meet me.\u00a0 But I guess post traumatic shock has a way of extinguishing good manners.\u00a0 If it makes you feel any better I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, it does.\u00a0 I find the local inhabitants here extremely rude and coarse.\u00a0 I was hoping that you would be different.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat made you think that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour reference to honor seemed to indicate a more formal value system.\u00a0 It was my interpretation that polite behavior was a value that aligned with your world view.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, there is something in what you say.\u00a0 And in my defense, I think there is a slight language barrier interfering with your full appreciation of the witty banter that you have mistaken for orneriness.\u00a0 Tell you what, if we get out of this mess I\u2019m going to have you over the house for a plate of broccoli rabe macaroni.\u00a0 Where I come from that is the equivalent of killing the fatted calf and burying the hatchet.\u00a0 What do you say?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is a very gracious offer.\u00a0 I will gladly accept your hospitality in the event of our success in overcoming our current circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, now let\u2019s get this show on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI understand your repeated metaphorical usage of the travelling show but it is necessary to allow action to follow circumstance rather than risk some reckless move performed simply to avoid inaction.\u00a0 We must adhere to a particularly rigid timeline if we hope to accomplish the desired outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n At that point I let it drop.\u00a0 There is only so much a man can take.<\/p>\n After a few minutes we slowed down and landed.\u00a0 It was a rural area with fenced-in meadows surrounded by forested hills.\u00a0 Maybe horse pastures.\u00a0 We had landed close to one of those wooded areas.\u00a0 We both got out and I followed Joe into the wood through what I hoped wasn\u2019t poison ivy but turned out to be blackberry brambles.\u00a0 Fun.\u00a0 After about ten minutes of abrasion and swearing we reached a small clearing.\u00a0 Joe took a device out of his jacket pocket and if it was an iPhone then he must have had access to some very esoteric apps.\u00a0 After pressing a few keystrokes a loud tone sounded from somewhere near his feet and a light appeared on the ground and a solid surface elevated from the forest floor and essentially formed a lit work station at waist level in front of Joe.\u00a0 I could see it wasn\u2019t running Windows or displaying any earthly alphabet.\u00a0 What might have been text was indecipherable for me.\u00a0 If pressed for a resemblance I\u2019d say braille.\u00a0 Anyway, Joe got to work and worked the station at surprising speed.\u00a0 After a few minutes of watching I got bored and started heckling him (yeah, I can be a jerk).<\/p>\n \u201cSo, Poindexter, what\u2019s the verdict?\u00a0 Are we screwed or saved?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe looked up sort of disoriented as if I\u2019d broken his concentration during some difficult operation.\u00a0 Then he blinked and focused on me.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is a simplistic dichotomy that does not reflect the actual situation.\u00a0 I have managed to access the law enforcement databases and records from the police action.\u00a0 I have altered these records to mask any images that could have been used to identify us.\u00a0 However, I can tell that these records have been copied into the NSA collection sweep.\u201d<\/p>\n That sounded not good.\u00a0 \u201cSo?\u00a0 Just do your magic and slap Beevis and Butthead faces over ours in the NSA Funnniest Home Video Blooper Reel and home we go, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe NSA records are isolated, redundantly cached and physically protected by hardened bunker locations.\u00a0 I can\u2019t alter them from this data connection.\u201d<\/p>\n That sounded very not good.\u00a0 At that juncture I sort of got peevish.\u00a0 \u201cLook here, you intergalactic librarian, my tax dollars probably pay your salary so don\u2019t give me that bureaucratic gibberish.\u00a0 I don\u2019t intend to spend the remainder of my life living like an extra from a Twilight Zone episode.\u00a0 You just get in that George Jetson Yugo of yours and bust into the NSA and make this right.\u201d<\/p>\n I think I finally hit a nerve.\u00a0 He stood looking at me with an expression that I actually recognized.\u00a0 I had seen that expression on the face of every used car dealer and appliance salesman I had ever tortured.\u00a0 It was a combination of incredulity, exasperation and moral outrage.\u00a0 To his credit, Joe didn\u2019t punch me in the nose.\u00a0 Instead he shot me.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure what he used but the effect was something like a cop\u2019s taser.\u00a0 Anyway, I felt a jolt and saw a flash.\u00a0 The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back and looking at the stars in the sky.\u00a0 When I eventually got to my feet, I didn\u2019t see Joe.\u00a0 The work station was gone and I was trying to figure out how to get back to the car.\u00a0 I got back to the field just in time to see Joe fly off.\u00a0 I could feel the wind from the take-off as he shot past me.\u00a0 I lost track of the car in the dark sky almost immediately.\u00a0 I stared into this same sky for a while and pondered on the strangeness of life and the inaccurate portrayal of space men in popular culture.\u00a0 After all Mr. Spock never shot Bones no matter how emotional and annoying he got.\u00a0 The most he would do was raise an eyebrow and make an ironic comment.\u00a0 Bones would never be left on the alien planet just because he had sassed the Vulcan science officer.\u00a0 After a few more minutes I started thinking that I needed to come up with a plan.\u00a0 I appeared to be in a pretty tough spot.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t sure if I was a wanted fugitive and I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere without a car.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t particularly cold out but I was starting to feel tired and sleeping on wet grass wasn\u2019t all that inviting.\u00a0 I started to walk toward the road with the idea of either hitching a ride or walking toward a store where I could get my bearings.\u00a0 I reached the road, a pretty unimpressive two-lane piece of asphalt, and pretty quickly figured out that I\u2019d be doing a lot more hiking than hitching.\u00a0 No one stopped, because no one went by.\u00a0 That road was empty.\u00a0 I wondered if it was a dead end.\u00a0 That got me thinking that maybe I was headed for the dead end.\u00a0 And that made me wonder how long can a dead-end road be before it\u2019s considered just a regular road.\u00a0 After all, any road ends when it reaches an ocean or a cliff.\u00a0 So, didn\u2019t that mean that Interstate 90 was a dead end?\u00a0 I mean it might be long but it ended at the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.\u00a0 So dead end, Q.E.D. right?<\/p>\n Anyway, after about fifteen minutes I stopped to try and figure out whether the road seemed darker behind me or in front.\u00a0 I had just decided that it was darker in front when suddenly it wasn\u2019t dark anymore at all.\u00a0 What appeared to be a fireball crossed the sky above me and exploded above the horizon with a flash that lit up the world like daylight.\u00a0 The flash only lasted a few seconds and was gone.\u00a0 My eyes were so dazzled by the light that for at least a minute I couldn\u2019t see anything at all.\u00a0 Slowly my vision returned and I began to detect starlight.\u00a0 But either my vision was still not completely restored or it was even darker than before the flash.\u00a0 Now the road looked just as dark in both directions.\u00a0 I decided to head back the way I came from.\u00a0 And so about fifteen minutes later I ended up back at the field I started from.\u00a0 And who do you suppose was parked on the road?\u00a0 I slowed down before I reached the car and tried to figure out what to say.\u00a0 Nothing came to mind so I just walked up to the car and knocked on the front where the windshield would be on a normal car.\u00a0 The doors disappeared and I could see Joe getting out and standing against the side panel.\u00a0 He was slightly illuminated by the interior lights so I could see his face.\u00a0 He appeared calm.\u00a0 His expression was neutral so I couldn\u2019t tell where we stood.\u00a0 But I took it as a good sign that he had returned and decided to apologize for my outburst.\u00a0 After all, up until shooting me, he had been very helpful.\u00a0 But before I had a chance to say anything he spoke.<\/p>\n \u201cJake, please forgive my violent attack upon you.\u00a0 Your words were highly upsetting and triggered an unexpected atavistic response that I would not have thought myself capable of registering.\u00a0 Worse still, I was sorely tempted to strike your face with my fist.\u00a0 I extend my sincerest apology.\u201d<\/p>\n I considered telling him that it was a good thing he hadn\u2019t tried to slug me because of my street fighting prowess but I thought better of it.\u00a0 He was a pretty big guy and I was going to need a lift out of this hayseed hideaway at some point soon.\u00a0 No sense in riling him up again so soon.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s okay Joe, I shouldn\u2019t have needled you that way.\u00a0 After all, at the time, you were doing everything that could be done.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thank you for your magnanimity.\u00a0 It is most gracious.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay good.\u00a0 Now what are we gonna do about the predicament we\u2019re in?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe became quiet and seemed to be thinking what to say.<\/p>\n \u201cJake you are no longer being sought by the authorities.\u201d<\/p>\n That caught me by surprise.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s great!\u00a0 What happened?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI followed your advice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat advice?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believe your exact words were, \u2018You just get in that George Jetson Yugo of yours and bust into the NSA and make this right.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou actually did that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEssentially.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI employed a very powerful electromagnetic pulse to erase the databases that included the records involved.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow were you able to selectively destroy only the databases required?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJake, an EMP is not a selective event.\u00a0 It is a physical phenomenon that depending on its strength will disable not only electronic devices but even electromechanical devices in most present day civilian electrical equipment within a radius defined by its overall strength.\u00a0 And because of the intentionally protected nature of the environment provided to these databases by their underground location it was necessary to generate a truly impressive EMP to provide 99.9999% assurance of success.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey was that flash I saw a little while ago?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost assuredly.\u201d<\/p>\n I was now getting a little punchy.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, what else would have been effected?\u201d<\/p>\n He considered this for a while.\u00a0 \u201cBasically, all of the government electronic records.\u00a0 And a large part of the infrastructure for the District of Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n Now it was my turn to consider for a while.\u00a0 Apparently I was off the hook.\u00a0 But what had just happened was a huge event.\u00a0 Potentially it could trigger World War III.\u00a0 If a nuclear power thought the United States was vulnerable it might attempt to take advantage of the opportunity to launch a nuclear strike.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, have you just put this country in danger of nuclear obliteration?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly not.\u00a0 The Strategic Air Command and NORAD are completely unaffected by this event.\u00a0 Only the ability of the President to order an attack is affected.\u00a0 Naturally your military will go on high alert until confirmation that the event was non-military in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n This was a lot to digest.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, I\u2019m thankful that you\u2019ve helped me out, but isn\u2019t this a bit much?\u00a0 I mean what\u2019s going to happen when people figure out what happened\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do not anticipate any government or private agency identifying the correct cause.\u00a0 They would consider it an impossibility.\u00a0 Chances are they will assume it was an esoteric natural phenomenon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen we\u2019re completely in the clear.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is not so.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhaddya mean?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy employers will know exactly what mechanism was responsible for the EMP.\u00a0 Also, they will know exactly who caused it.\u00a0 I will be held accountable for it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat will they do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am not sure.\u00a0 At the least I will be sent for mental adjustment.\u00a0 Possibly I will be terminated as an incurable psychotic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell wait a minute.\u00a0 Maybe you can explain the reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou do not understand the circumstances.\u00a0 I have as much as violated the highest law in existence in the jurisdiction involved.\u00a0 It was no accident.\u00a0 I did it to undo the damage I caused you by intervening when we met.\u00a0 I could not allow you to suffer from my actions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, you mean I\u2019m responsible for you committing suicide?\u00a0 Why would you do that?\u00a0 Why would you listen to me?\u00a0 Nobody listens to me.\u00a0 Even my dog doesn\u2019t listen to me.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are a very strange person, Jake.\u00a0 Even in my present predicament I am surprised at how contrary your attitude toward circumstances can be.\u00a0 Adapting to the realities around you is how most beings maintain equanimity.\u201d<\/p>\n I looked him in the face and realized he was calm because he had accepted his situation and was at peace with it.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 No, no, no.\u00a0 This will not stand.\u00a0 If you think I\u2019m gonna let you save me and then take the bullet you\u2019re sorely mistaken.\u00a0 I may be a lotta things but an ingrate ain\u2019t one of \u2018um.\u00a0 Get ready to shuffle the deck.\u00a0 When I get finished we\u2019re either gonna walk away from this scot free or I\u2019m gonna leave a hole in the infrastructure they\u2019ll be talking about for the next couple of millennia.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked at me with an expression that was hard for me to read.\u00a0 I realized that what I said hadn\u2019t made a lot of sense and he might decide that shooting me again and dropping me off back home would be the easiest course of action if he really was resigned to giving himself up.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do not understand what you are saying.\u00a0 The technological advantage that I used against your government would not exist in any interaction between ourselves and the authorities who will be coming after me.\u00a0 They have the same technologies available to them and force multipliers that are virtually inexhaustible.\u00a0 What advantage do we possess?\u00a0 Also I am the transgressor here.\u00a0 I have violated codes of conduct that I have always obeyed because I considered them prudent and necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n Ha, this would be easy.<\/p>\n \u201cLook Joe, all this non-interference jazz is propaganda.\u00a0 It\u2019s strictly Star Trek OS vs NG.\u00a0 If Kirk needed to eliminate Nazis he\u2019d be perfectly willing to hand over new technology or go back in time to do it.\u00a0 Your \u201cauthorities\u201d sound like a bunch of commie progressive Picard types who don\u2019t deserve to be running a lemonade stand.\u00a0 Now, as far as advantages, I detect a certain rigidity of thought pattern in the behavior you describe.\u00a0 I have been dealing with bureaucrats like that all my life and I\u2019m not ashamed to say that I\u2019ve developed a sort of expertise in dealing with such people.\u00a0 Now granted some of these critters may seem more like zoo exhibits than law enforcement but with your familiarity with the set up and my, shall we say, knack for working the system, I don\u2019t see why we couldn\u2019t reset the situation to our satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n Once again, he was quiet and he had a perplexed expression as he stared at the ground in front of him.\u00a0 Finally, he looked up at me and said, \u201cJake, I\u2019m not sure you understand what you are saying but I have several days before the response to this event is determined and I am summoned.\u00a0 I am willing to discuss the details with you and try to make clear exactly how disastrous the situation is.\u00a0 If by then you can convince me that an alternate course of action is possible, I will consider it.\u201d<\/p>\n I smiled and said, \u201cAnd a fairer shake I couldn\u2019t ask for.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [socialpoll id=”2526583″]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [socialpoll id=”2526583″] Here’s a fragment of a story I’ve been working on forever.\u00a0 Maybe putting it up here will give me the push to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1289,4],"tags":[1290,44,265],"class_list":["post-3972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction-by-me","category-sff","tag-my-fiction","tag-sci-fi","tag-science-fiction"],"yoast_head":"\n