Magic World (working title): Chapter 10 part 12

Jackie led them carefully through the streets, staying away from the main thourofares whenever possible.

When they had gone out to the parking lot they saw the BMW motorcycle that the other "biker" had owned, and Gary got the sense that Jackie was fighting down the urge to shoot out the tires.

While Gary got into his van, Jackie had walked around the back of the side of one of the little kiosk type buildings. Even through the closed windows he could hear the roar of the engine coming to life. The chopper slid smoothly out from behind the small building, and seemed to glide along the ground, low and slow, though Gary realized that was an illusion. He was moving along quite fast through the parking lot, but it was so smooth, it looked like it was moving in slow motion. He didn't know the make or model, but he suspected that it was a custom job, from the paint, to the handbars, to the rims, and even the gas tank.

When they finally arrived at the garage Jackie slowly, almost reluctantly stepped off the chopper, and stroked it, almost lovingly, while looking it over for dings and imperfections. 

"Have you set a date yet?" said Gary sarcastically. Jackie looked at him with unamused confusion. "Have you  named your children yet? Let me guess 'Harley,' and 'Davidson.'" 

Jackie sighed in irritation.

"Relax man, I'm just giving you some crap," said Gary placatingly, laughing a little. "Seriously, she's freaking gorgeous. And from the sound of her you've got, what a 440 heat conversion matrix on the exhaust? That would get you another three or four MPG I'd guess right?"

Jackie looked slightly mollified. "450," he said, still showing a little annoyance.

Gary smiled. "Does she have a name?"

Jackie looked a little uncomfortable. "Lucile." He nodded at the bike. "Cause she's got a sense of humor."

Gary smirked, and tapped the hood of his van. "Buttercup," he said. "My little princess, and my.... Twu Wuv."

Jackie nodded, and said. "Very cute." But he was smirking now. "Okay, it's like ten after one now. I have to go talk to the boss, and I'll be back in about an hour or so. Do you need anything?"

But Gary had already started dragging an extension cord from his van over to the electrical outlet on the wall. When he plugged it in, there was a barely perceptible lull in the power for a second. He smiled and waved at Jackie.

"Got juice, got pizza, got coffee, got entertainment..." He smiled and tossed the little oive green and red figurine in his hand. "I should be good for an hour or so." He was already climbing into the back of the van, and setting things up when Jackie got back on his bike and started off again, Gary barely noticed.

He was studying the contents of the drive, which appeared to be a series of picture, that for some reason had some odd digital color distortion. They were all along the lines of that famous picture where the two faces looking at each other, when lined up correctly. looked like a vase, or a candle holder or whatever that thing was.

And the old lady who was also the young lady with her head turned. And Marilyn Monroe, and a saxophone player.

He sat back in his chair, staring at the picture, trying to discern any hidden meaning in any of them. Was it in the context? The fact that they were all black and white? After sitting and thinking about it for a few minutes, he decided to take a break, and stretch his legs outside for a minute.

He took a long pull from his chai, and grabbed a slice of pizza.

He hadn't looked too closely at the garage when he came in, but now he noticed a few things he hadn't seen before, like the big garage doors at both the front and back, and the big mural of a devils head on one wall. The floor was smooth and painted, and clean. There were motorcycle parts all over the place, but along one wall was a huge metal locker...

...that seemed to contain an arsenal.

"Huh," he said, but quickly dismissed it, still thinking about the problem, only sparing a little processing power in his brain to take in his surroundings. There was a red painted metal safety door set into one wall, that led into an office. The office had a few windows along with some fairly distasteful and mismatched furniture, around a TV. There was also a desk with a computer, but it looked fairly disused. The big blue metal door that led outside was locked, so he flipped the deadbolt, went out, and started pacing around the garage, in the fresh air.

His mind though was still locked on the problem, which is why he didn't see the black bag until it was down over his head.

Magic World (working title): Chapter 10 part 11

Jackie rolled his eyes as he reached into his back pocket. Gary follow the movement of his hand very carefully.

"Don't get all offended, I didn't mean it as a bad thing, I was just a little surprised is all." He pulled what looked like a Boba Fett Lego out of his back pocket and set it on the table between them. Gary's eyebrows rose.  "He gave me that to give to you in the event that something happened to him."

"What is it," asked Gary picking up the figure.

Jackie shrugged. "He said it was the missing puzzle piece. No real idea what he could have meant by that."

Gary looked for figure over carefully. It was a little heavier than the standards Lego figure. Maybe that meant that there was something inside.  He tugged at the helmet, and realized that slid off quite easily, uncovering a USB interface.  He practically LOL'ed right there. A Lego Boba Fett USB thumb drive.

"Any idea what he wanted me to do with it?" he asked without much hope.

"Oh, gee, I don't know. What is it that you do with a thumb drive, genius?" said Jackie sarcastically, but in a good humored way that made Gary smirk. "If you stick it up your nose does it interface with your brain?"

Gary just stared at him trying to look annoyed despite the little grin on his face. "Right. Fine then. Do you have a safe place I can go to work on this then? Someplace like a garage where I can park my van, plug in the power?"

Jackie appeared to think about this for a moment, then said, "Mmm- yeah, I think I've got somewhere that will work. Anyone coming?" He nodded to the smartphone, which was still displaying camera images from security feeds in the city.

Gary looked through the images. "As far as I can tell, there are no commando types about, and no motorcycles either, at least not for a few blocks, where there are cameras about."

Jackie nodded, looking around. Then he stood up, gathering his newspaper, and the sandwich that had been hiding behind it.

"Well, we'd better get moving then, before anyone shows up," he said.

"Groovy. Hey d'you mind if we stop at a Starbucks along the way? I'm Jonsing for a caffeine fix."

Jackie raised an eyebrow considering him, then slowly shook his head. "Mmmm, nope. They could be waiting for us there."

Gary looked dejectedly at him. "Why the hell would they wait for us at a Starbucks? What, do you think it's a trap or some shit?"

Jackie nodded, then shrugged. "I always think everything is a trap. It's why I'm still alive."

Gary snorted. "Good one. Princess Bride, right?"

Jackie paused in the act of putting in his leather overcoat, looking confused. What the hell is a Princess Bride?"

Garry looked, at him in mild alarm, and they stared at each other for a moment before Jackie broke and said, "Totally kidding." Then he suddenly said, "Mawwage! Mawwage iz vwot bwing'v uf togeva to-dai."

"Whew," said Gary relieved. "For a second there I thought I was working with a Crazy Person."

Magic World (working title): Chapter 10 part 10

Gary looked over his choices, dismissing the construction workers who all sat together chatting away, their hands dirty, their boots muddy, and they were all carrying various hats, gloves, jackets, and safety glasses.

That just left Tweed, Leatherman, and Zebra with a Sunburn.

After a few moments, he dismissed tweed. He knew very little about Jackie, but Tweed was habitually looking at his smartphone, which was on the table in front of him, and he had a nervous twitch which looked like the result of too many cups of coffee, and too little sleep. He also hummed to himself in a rather cheerful way that reminded Gary of the little gnomish wizards that ran around in World of Warcraft.

He was about to approach the guy in the leathers, but noticed a couple of things. First, his watch was far too gold and shiny, his boots were far to polished, and his teeth were too white. The leather jacket showed no signs of wear and tear. Plus his keychain had a BMW keyless ignition fob which was only available on their motorcycle models from the last couple of years. That type of vehicle seemed far to flashy for someone who acted so paranoid.

That left Zebra man. He wasn't sure he was right though until he spotted something behind the counter.

He sat down across from the newspaper. The headline read, "Explosion in Storage Park" with the subheading "Four deaths, cause still unknown."

Gary shook his head. He knew he should have seen that...

"So, Sonka huh?"

The paper rustled  slightly, and the person behind it cleared his throat. Gary could see through the glass tabletop that his contact was wearing black combat boots, and blue jeans, both worn and faded. The boots especially seemed to have many layers of multicolored dirt.

"I wasn't convinced that it was you, until I looked behind the counter and saw the wide angle mirror, which, from your angle allows you to see almost every part of the room, and even into the back." Gary was typing away on his phone now, his head hunched down, and squinting at the screen. "I mean I know I am personally quite paranoid, and even obsessive sometimes, but when I play paranoid, I go all... out." He tapped a button on his phone and suddenly several different live cameras came up on his screen. He set the phone up on it's kickstand, and watched several images float over the screen.

"Local webcams?" asked Jacky's voice, sounding impressed despite himself. That's when Garry noticed the tiny holes in the paper. He would never have noticed them if Jackie hadn't drawn attention to the fact that he could see through it.

Gary scoffed. "Well, yeah, But also cell cams, traffic cams, hell anything that has a 'Cam' in it."

Jackie paused a moment and went very still. Then he said "Anyone coming from outside?"

Gary shrugged. "Define 'anyone.'"

"Mercenaries," explained Jackie. "Anyone in black tactical gear with guns. Also biker gangs, anyone with a goat's head on their kit."

"Oh, those guys," Gary snorted. "I'm pretty sure most of them are over at the other Sonka. You know, the one that's actually CALLED The Sonka Pub?" He sighed in slight annoyance. "You know I've met some paranoid people in my time, but you off the grid. But no, no mercenaries either."

Jackie seemed to consider that for a moment, then slowly lowered the newspaper.

He had a short haircut, not exactly a marine buzzcut, but similar in style.... actually he was reminded strongly of Henry Rollins in terms of young face, and square jaw, but Jackie had more lines, some that looked like scars, but most looked weathered, especially around the eyes, which seemed haunted. He was wearing a leather vest over a denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up. On the breast pocket was a devil head sporting the legend "Red Devils MC."

He too was looking Gary over. "So... our friend didn't mention you were a gnome."

Gary smirked. "He also didn't mention you were a douchbag."

Santa Society Audio version

Okay, with Chapter 1 more or less complete, I've finished recording the audio version of the prologue, which will hopefully be easier for people to digest. I'll get the audio for chapter one completed as soon as I am able, probably tomorrow if I'm fortunate enough to have some spare time, and if I'm feeling awake enough! ;)

So here's the link to the playlist for the prologue: https://soundcloud.com/bob-swanson-3/sets/the-santa-society

And now it's almost midnight, so I'm off to go give my wife a new year's kiss. Have a happy and safe new year everyone!

The Santa Society - Chapter 1: part 3

The flight from Washington to Vermont took practically no time at all, and soon they were touching down in a small private airfield.

"This is one of the busiest days for travel, so we're going to take the back roads to get to the hospital," said the driver who had been sent to meet them.

They got into the cargo van, (the Organization didn't employ limos or limo drivers) and drove through the relatively busy streets to the Saint Thomas Memorial Hospital.

Grandma had been moved from the ER to ICU. Not because she was necessarily in any particular danger, the nurse had explained, but there was still a slight danger of the embolism in her artery causing further issue, and they wanted to be ready to remove the blockage as soon as they determined where it was.

Isaak didn't really understand most of this, but accepted the information and filed it away, preferring to talk to his grandmother, which he was told was fine, she was lucid, but not totally coherent.

Isaak's heart nearly broke when he walked in, and when she saw him she only smiled with half of her face, the other half remaining still. She motioned for him to come over and sit on her left side, the good side.

"It's good to see you," she said, her words slurred and distorted, as he sat down beside her bed. He wanted to reach out to her, but he was afraid of doing something that might hurt her. But just as he thought this she held her hand out to him and crooked her fingers in invitation. He smiled shaking his head and took her hand.

The first thought through his head, the first thing he wanted to say was, "I can't do what you want," which made him feel ashamed. His second thought, "How are you" just made him feel stupid. How the hell did he think she was?

So he struggled for a moment for something to say, when she said to him, "You've grown a beard."

He nearly laughed in relief and nodded his head, suddenly wanting to cry...

"It looks good, and you've been keeping it trimmed. Your father didn't really trim his when he had one... looked like a mountain man."

His father. That brought the whole thing back around again, because his father was one of the biggest reasons he left this life.

"Grandma," he started, but she cut across him.

"Do you know how I knew you were going to take my place one day?"

He sighed and shook his head. "I..."

"We were in the control room when I was teaching your older cousin how to do the job. You were six, I think, and you watched everything in the room as I explained."

He remembered, but only vaguely.

"By the time I was done, and testing him, you were looking at the proper controls before I had even finished the question. Then when you were nine, you talked your way out of trouble so often, I thought you were going to grow up to be a con artist. But mostly it was seeing you teach. I've attended some of your online seminars in jazz. I had no idea there was so much to it. What I saw you, yelling and screaming like someone had just said they don't believe in Santa, and those kids listened. Every single one. They hung on every word you said."

Isaak couldn't think of anything else to say after this, so he remained silent for a moment, but she continued right on. "Don't worry, your mother and your cousin will be more than capable of showing you how everything works now. You have nothing to worry about."

He didn't speak, just looked pensively at her, but she didn't seem to notice . She turned her head to the front again, leaning it back, then started snoring lightly. Her hand went slack in her hand,  but all the monitors showed that she was doing okay, so he got up I'm headed back toward the enterence the room holding his hand to his forehead and rubbing vigorously.

 

His mother was walking towards him in the hallway, looking is a she just got off to get something to eat. She caught sight of him and gasped with delight.  But before she could start her usual barrage of questions he cut her of.

"When she comes to, tell her that I'm giving her just this weekend. Nothing else.  just. this. weekend."

He  started off down the hallway and back towards is ride.

When Miriam poked her head around the corner she found her mother looking at her mischievously.

The Santa Society - Chapter 1: part 2

The Sleigh was the first of ten high-priority delivery planes that were used primarily during the holiday season for a number of different purposes, from toy shipments, to perishable foods, to high priority passengers such as returning veterans, sick children, and people who couldn't afford to reach their families.

The other planes were named after the eight classical reindeer and Rudolph. To maintain anonymity when people who could not afford airfare, or vets, or anyone that the society deemed worthy were told that they would be getting free airfare they were told that it was the "airline" who was taking care of it, but not to let anyone know because they didn't want everyone asking for free rides.

They were used year round, though never as heavily as the holiday season. The Sleigh was generally reserved for company use, and only pressed into service when none of the "Reindeer" were available, even so it was only used when absolutely necessary, when time was a big factor.

Like now apparently.

Isaak had never had a reason to go into the airports private hangar section, and finding the right way through the maze of little roads was difficult even WITH the GPS to guide him. The mapmakers, and those who created the little codes that showed the shortest distances, probably didn't consider these wide open concrete oceans to be anything as formal as a "road."

But eventually Isaak found his way to private hangar 217 where sat the relatively small private jet, painted to look like Santa, sitting on a sleigh in a night sky, with a sack of toys at his back. Isaak rolled his eyes, but couldn't help a small grin.

He also noticed that there were what looked like a second pair of engines carefuly mounted next to the originals, but they looked kinda weird. The cowlings weren't painted at all, so they clashed with the originals, and they were only about one third the size.

"Electrical," said a voice from behind him, as he leaned in to get a better look.

He whipped around to see a blonde, slightly balding man watching him. He smiled, and put on a look of mock confusion, pointing at the man, clearly the pilot, and said, "Hammy right? Wait, no... Hambone?

The man chuckled. "Oh, I'm not giving you any help on this one. Sink or swim time for you."

Isaak smirked, saying, "Story of my life... Hammond." He had always known the pilots name, but liked to have fun with him too. "Wait," he said. "Did you say electrical?"

Hammond grimmaced and nodded. "NO idea how it works really. Something about charged particles getting sucked in one end, and pushed out the other. I think they called it an electrostatic turbine?" He shrugged. "Someone's doing some kind of Kickstarter, 'you-know-who' is supporting it, so suddenly, we're testing a couple of these things."

"And?" asked Isaak. "How have they been working?"

Hammond shrugged. "They won't get you off the ground, but it'll move you along while you're in the air. Eats through batteries like a fat man through oreos."

"Really? How much power does it take?"

"Eh, nine-volt battery."

Hammond joined Isaak, snorting at that joke, but then shook his head and nodded toward the cabin of the plane. "It's prolly gonna be a couple hours or so before we can get clearance, so might as well wait inside...."

Santa Society Audio version Prologue part 1

Okay, so yeah this is a little cheaty. But it's been pointed out to me that I post SO MUCH that it's hard for people to keep up with. So I figured that an audio version would be easier to digest, and people can listen while they're doing other things. I'll post more soon, I'm going to try to record the rest of the prologue then post it as soon as I can. Also I HAVE ENABLED DOWNLOADS so you can listen to this on your mp3 player, or phone or whatever.