October 27th, 1985
Exhausted, Addy and Parker turned right to duck between a pair of buildings. They stopped and pressed their backs against the black brick wall of an empty apartment building just off 41st Avenue. The two had been running for hours.
"What time is it, you think?" Parker asked between gulping breaths.
"Who knows, but I'm exhausted. It must be late."
The echo of a woman's cry forced the pair to turn their heads to the left in tandem.
"So, you heard that, too?" Parker inquired, eying Addy's concerned face lit by the red lighting lining the fascia of the buildings. "I thought you said the other 'brid' that came in with you was dead."
"Yeah, he was. That's a female."
"Dammit."
"Damn it, what, Parker?" Addy generated a look of confusion, her eyes narrowing as she scanned over the young man's face.
Parker looked down at his bag, opened it, and extracted Broadway. He lifted the kitten to his face and grinned at the half-Negexis woman next to him.
"Oh, hell no. We've got to get out of here or we're all dead, including you and that dumb cat."
"I can't help myself," Parker said, giving the kitten a scratch.
"Meow. Purrr..."
Addy released a heavy breath. "Something is wrong with you...seriously."
"No argument from me on that," Parker said and returned Broadway to the haversack. "Regardless, I have to go."
Broadway shuffled about in the bag in apparent annoyance.
"Sorry, bud, just a bit longer," Parker said and looked up to catch Addy's serious gaze once more.
"Parker, you know the U.N. and that last R.R.O.A.C.H. heard that scream, too, right? This might be our only opportunity..."
"Can't do it." Parker peeled himself from the wall and stood in the middle of the alley, facing Addy. "You don't have to come with me, but I have to go help whoever that is."
"It could be a trap, dummy."
"That yell came from the opposite direction. Either way, I need to see for myself," Parker replied. "I promise, I'll be careful."
With a growl, Addy stood upright and poked a finger in Parker's chest. "Fine. We'll both go, but if it even smells off, you and your stupid cat are on your own and I'm out!"
Parker nodded and spun around on his heels. "Try to keep up."
<<*>>
Earlier That Afternoon...
Seated on a park bench, Katie read over the hand-written list of instructions her grandfather had given her once more.
"One. Set dial one to 'One'. Two. Set dial two to fourteen. Verify the image of a lion is on the opposite side..."
Katie lowered the paper at the rhythmic crunch of sneakers on concrete. A handsome jogger bounced toward her wearing gray sweats. A cassette player was attached to his waistband and black foam headphones were affixed to each ear. With a courteous wave, he smiled at her and she kindly returned the expression. When the man passed, Katie finished reading.
"...and give this note to Parker. Be careful and be brave my sweet Katie-bug. I would do this myself if I were able. I'm sorry for not telling you the truth sooner. I love you. ~Grandpa"
"It's okay, granddaddy." Katie said under her breath. She folded the paper and put it away in the left side pocket of her leather jacket. The young woman patted the right pocket. It contained the energy pistol. Turning to her right, Katie opened a backpack seated beside her, slid her hand inside, and removed her grandfather's foil-covered, odd clock called a Horologium from its interior. The young woman popped a pair of rubber bands from the metallic ball and unwrapped it, allowing the shiny cover to return to its amazing, perfectly flat, normal state. The metal paper went back into the bag.
Katie lifted the Horologium and verified that the settings on the device were correct. "One...fourteen...lion. Okay, that looks right."
A cool fall breeze dislodged a cloud of red and brown leaves from a nearby cluster of trees. They slowly drifted to the ground and lined the bench. Another gust freed a lock of Katie's dark hair and it landed over her face. Blowing the brunette strands from her freckled nose, the cross-eyed Katie glanced down at the object in her hands for a few seconds and then up at the Central Park Lake that spread out before her like an artist's painting.
The sun was setting. The brilliant ball of light cast a glimmering sheen over the surface of the water creating an inverted, sparkling image of the city skyline; a surprisingly beautiful view of the lake and the metropolis. In fact, the image was so pretty, Katie never really cared to question the reasons her grandfather had come out here so often with her when she was a child. It was a given.
However, there seemed to be another purpose for the old man's visits...secret reasons that were apparently a mystery until earlier that day. Katie now knew it was the perfect spot in the city to view a full moon without a large number of watchful eyes around. How many times her grandfather had sat all alone on this very bench under these regular, monthly lunar events, that question would remain unanswered.
Katie shivered. The temperature was dropping it seemed one degree with every inch the sun slid behind the New York City skyline. Soon, the Earth's rocky satellite would rise above the city and fully expose itself to the world like a trench coat exhibitionist. It would then be time for her to 'shift' in and attempt to find Parker Raymond...all without getting herself killed.
<<*>>
"...she must enter the Dome with the Horologium and the stun pistol on that day or else all will be lost. I hope you understand that I realize how much she means to you. I don't ask this of you or her lightly. We both know how important she will be. ~A.R."
"You mean how important she is," Rudolph wheezed and lowered the metallic sheet of paper to his chest, clutching it to his breast like a child hugs an old favorite doll.
The shimmering page in Rudolph's hand reflected the light of the dim overhead fluorescent fixture like a disco ball.
"I am so, so sorry, my sweet Katie. I never wanted to place you in the same sort of danger as..." Rudolph paused to take a gulp of oxygen and coughed. A tear emerged from the corner of his eye and rolled down a wrinkled cheek, eventually snaking its way along the edge of the plastic cup covering his face. With a shaky hand, he lifted a nearby wired television remote and pressed the power button. "...but this was the only way and he did say you would be okay. I suppose I will just have to trust in that."
The old man wrinkled the metallic paper into a ball and shoved it into his housecoat's pocket.
Across the sterile hospital room, a video monitor mounted on the wall clicked to life. The glowing images of UN Forces in riot gear clashing with the Roach Hotel studio audience covered the television's luminous surface. It was a scene of utter madness and one, Rudolph considered, very similar to another such tumultuous day many years before in Washington, D.C. An evening that ended in tragedy.
He hoped this day would remain far less eventful and even less tragic.
YOU ARE READING
Voynich Shift - Season One (COMPLETED)
Science FictionParker Raymond recently inherited his estranged grandfather's large plantation home in Savannah, Georgia. The Spanish Moss hanging from the estate's large oaks, its massive gardens, and a near endless bank account were, in the end, not what captured...
