Alternate Soul

Chapter 10

Tomo and Vicki were at the airport waiting for their flight to go back to LA when the man from the park walked up to them.
"Tomo can we go down here and talk." He pointed down the terminal where no one was.
Tomo got up and started walking that way. He was wondering what was going on. He looked back at Vicki and shrugged to let her know he didn't know what it was.
The man walked over to the windows let out a breath and ran his hand over his face.
"You remember yesterday when the woman I was with took a phone call and then we had to leave?"
"Yeah"
"Well it was about Haley and Shannon." He looked around. "We received and emergency call on shortwave from Shannon yesterday. They were attacked. They took Haley and beat Shannon pretty bad. Our people have picked up Shannon. We need to know if you have a safe place for him or do you want to use one of ours? He needs a doctor and medical care. And we need to figure out exactly what is going on here."
"Fuck!" Tomo couldn't believe this. Shannon had gone there because it was safer. So much for that. Now what?
"One of your people has a campground in Kentucky. Can you get him there?"
"I know where you're talking about. We'll get him there in a few hours." He pulled out his phone a made a call.
"Tomo we have a plane ready to take you there as well."
"Ok I'll get Vicki." He started to go get her. The man put his hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"I would send her home Tomo. It may get dangerous. We don't know how much the A2 know."
"Oh....ok." Tomo walked slowly to Vicki. "Honey you have to go home without me."
"What's wrong? What's happened?" She grabbed his hands.
Tomo debated how much to actually tell her. He knew she would worry. But he had never kept anything from her.
"I know something happened by the look on your face Tomo."
He decided to tell her everything.
"Shannon has been beaten and they took Haley. I have to go help Shannon. And help Jared figure out what to do."
"Oh, God Tomo, Shannon must be crushed. He is so in love with her. You have to watch him. He's going to try to go after her."
"Flight 1202 to LA now boarding!" They announced over the loudspeaker.
"Please be careful Tomo. I love you. If you need me call me." She kissed Tomo deeply. "I love you." Vicki walked over to the gate and left. He thought he had the most loving, kind, understanding, trusting wife in the world. How did he get so lucky?

He walked back to where the man was waiting.
"Ok let's go." As they walked to where the private planes were Tomo asked. "Has anyone told Jared?"
"No, we figured it would be best if it came from you."
"Great, even you guys are afraid of his temper. He's really not that bad." Tomo said sarcastically taking out his phone to make the call.
Jared took it better than he expected but he was on speaker phone and Doc was helping to keep him calm. Doc had taken the phone and said they would met us there as soon as possible and to call when we knew something more about Shannon's condition.
It only took two hours to get to the campground when Tomo arrived there was a flurry of activity. People were running around everywhere.
"What the fuck is going on? What are all these people doing here?"
"They are preparing just in case we are attacked or we decide to attack. No one knows how much Haley knows or how much she will tell."
Tomo's head was spinning. Could this really be the beginning of a revolution? God, he hoped not. He was all for getting rid of the A2 but damn it he really didn't want to be one of the ones responsible for it.
"Where's Shannon?"
"He's in that cabin." He pointed to the same one he had stayed in before. Tomo walked over to the cabin and was about to walk in when he realized so were some others.
"I need to talk to him alone."
"We need to know..."

"I need to know first!" Tomo said forcefully. "Wait out here!"
Tomo walked into the cabin and went into the bedroom. There was a man sitting at the foot of the bed. Shannon was lying in bed asleep. His face was completely swollen and bruised. It didn't look like there wasn't a single spot that wasn't purple. His lips were split and his eyes were swollen shut. His shirt was off and there were bruises all over his chest and stomach. Tomo went to the side of the bed.
"Shannon it's me. I need to look you over man and see how bad your hurt. So, don't punch me like you did the others" Shannon moaned his understanding.
Tomo looked him over trying his best not to hurt him. He had never seen him hurt this bad. They had really worked him over. He had broken ribs, his nose was broken, and he for sure had a concussion. He needed stitches where they had ripped the electrodes from the taser out. Doc had her work cut out for her. She was going to have to sedate him to keep him here because although it looked bad Tomo knew his injuries would only keep Shannon down for a few days at most.
"Hey man, can you go and get me some water, wash clothes, bandages, ice, and see if you can find an iv and suture kit please?" Tomo asked the guy sitting at the end of the bed.

As soon as the door closed Shannon grabbed Tomo's arm.
"They took her Tomo. I tried to stop them but they took her." Shannon cried.
"I know man, I know. There was nothing you could have done. There were to many of them."
"I have to find her. They will kill her if I don't find her fast."
"What exactly happened Shannon? The people that picked you up said it was a bloodbath inside the house."
"I don't know for sure. I was close to the beach fighting. I told Haley to run to the house to get the gun. I heard several shots before they tasered me and kicked me in the head. Did she kill any of them?"
"She's a badass Shannon. She took out six of them."
The man returned with what Tomo had asked for plus more. He also brought sedatives, pain killers and another doctor.

"How's our patient?"
"Who are you?" Tomo asked suspiciously.
"I'm Dr. Scott. " He watched Tomo. Tomo seemed like he wanted more information so he went on. "I'm a surgeon, I specialize in reconstructive surgery but I can do others as well." He laughed. "May I look you over?"
"No!" Both Shannon and Tomo said forcefully.
"Oh. Ok. I see." Dr. Scott said taking a step back.
"Sorry but we don't know you. So, until our Doc gets here and can back up what you say, unless it's a matter of life and death you can't touch Shannon." Tomo explained. "Can't take any chances."
"I understand." Well they are super suspicious. It's going be really hard to get them to trust me.

------

Haley opened her eyes. She was tied to a chair in an empty room. There was one very small window near the ceiling. Judging by the light outside it was either dawn or dusk. She had no idea where she was or how long she had been out.
She looked down at herself. She still had on the same clothes. They were dirty and covered with blood. At least it wasn't her blood.
She tried to meditate to stay calm and relaxed while she waited for whoever to come and talk to her. She couldn't make plans until she knew more about where she was and who her captor was. it seemed like hours before someone finally came.
He was an older man, in his fifties maybe early sixties. He was dressed in dress pants, button down shirt and tie.
"Hello Ms. Stewart." he said as he sat down across from her. "My name is Dr. Teal. I run this facility. I will be dealing with you directly. Do you understand?"
Haley just blinked.
"Ms. Stewart, you can make this easy or difficult." He smiled slowly. "Well none of it will be easy. If you answer all my questions truthfully and quickly your fate can be decided quicker and easier."
"What the fuck do you want?" She asked in the nastiest tone of voice she could.
"I want to know why you're here and who sent you?"
She laughed. "You should know. You sent the fuckers to kidnap me and beat my boyfriend to death."
"Tsk tsk Ms. Stewart. I will let you get away with this one because I haven't explained the rules to you. Every time you don't answer my question correctly you will be hurt in some way. Understand?"
"Is that what you did to the others?"
"Oh the others....." He paused remembering. "Some were very easy to get to talk. Some I had to go to extremes with. It wasn't always pleasant." He smiled again. "Now would you like to answer my questions?"
Silence.
"Maybe this will help. I will tell you some of what I know. Then maybe you will know your secret is out and can tell me the truth." He paused. She stayed silent.
"Haley Stewart didn't exist before six months or so ago. That is when you popped into existence in the middle of the desert where Shannon Leto found you. He's been taking care of you since then." He walked around her. "We also tested your blood and we found a genetic marker that is same as in all the others. Some of the others have told fantastic stories of time travel and alternate universes. Imagine if that were true. You could just escape and start over. Learn about past events maybe future events. You could even send enough of our own people to secretly take over a planet in an alternate universe. The possibilities are endless. So, you see I need you to answer all my questions so I can learn how this traveling works so I can protect my planet from invasion." He leaned on the table looking straight into her eyes.
She stared right back at him. "Or in your case. Most likely you want to invade someone else's planet."
He ignored her and continued. "Again, I will ask you why are you here?"
"Because you kidnapped me asshole!"
"Oh, Ms. Stewart I had hoped you would cooperate." He opened the door and motioned for someone to come in. It was a well-built man with a mask covering his face.
"This man is going to show you the error of your ways. I'll return later." He walked out and shut the door leaving her alone with the man.
He came up to her and started to slap her. Each one harder than the last. He hit her everywhere he could. Her face, arms, legs, and chest. Each one stole her breath. She had tears streaming down her face, but she refused to make a sound.
Finally, he quit and left the room. She barely heard the door close as she drifted into unconsciousness. She dreamed of Shannon. She dreamed he was calling out to her. Telling her he was coming to get her. But how could he, he was surely dead. They wouldn't have left him alive to tell anyone what happened to her.