Further Into The Future!

Chapter 22

The following two days were busy for everyone. Jack spent most of his time spying on the station from the roof of the abandoned building, looking for anything unusual in their daily routine. He didn't discover anything useful. They kept two guards at the entrance through the wall, day and night. They always kept a few fogs in the area between the wall and the building. They walked the elderly man around the yard a few times a day, whoever he was, and occasionally forced him to do calisthenics. There was nothing else to report, Jack said.

I spent my time working on my new invention, which I can proudly say I required no help from Dan on. I modified the headset speaker to make it much more powerful. You would be amazed at how much sound I squeezed out of that cheap, hundred-year-old speaker. It was like a car horn when I was finished with it.

I put this speaker, the battery case, and all the wiring I needed inside a black plastic box that I made from the receiver. I remolded this seamlessly, so you would never know it was formerly part of a telephone.

I stuck some of the telephone's plastic buttons into this as controls. There was an asterisk button that I used as the on switch, and up and down buttons that served as a volume control.

The cherry on the top of this electronic sundae was the "Caller ID" display, which I taught myself how to operate and glued to the top of the black box. When the machine turned on, it flashed "Hello," when the volume was turned up it said "Up," and when it was turned down it said, obviously, "down." When the machine turned off it said "Invent. John Bedford 2099."

Susan and Dan were in charge of dressing up Alfred to look like Cold Steel. To our relief he agreed to take part in Jack's plan. He showed up at our apartment every day so Susan could tailor his uniform. He refused to shave his great long beard until the last minute. But he showed up on time and did what they asked him to, although grudgingly.

The day before our planned assault, Alfred was standing in the center of the apartment with his arms outstretched as Susan pinched and tugged at the replica of Cold Steel's uniform he was wearing. He looked just like Cold Steel from my perspective at the kitchen table behind him.

"This is uncomfortable," he said to Susan in a voice so deep it almost trembled.

"Well, I'm sorry, Alfred, but this is the best fit we can manage. It was hard enough getting a Cold Steel uniform made. I had to order a blue uniform with a bunch of frills on it so they wouldn't recognize what it was, then remove those later."

"I look like a sissy," Alfred said, examining his vibrant limbs.

"You look like a dictator," said Susan. "Now you need to practice acting like one."

Alfred grunted at the video of Cold Steel that was playing on the wall. Cold Steel was gesticulating wildly at a podium in front of a stadium full of excited people wearing red white and blue. Cameras were flashing in the audience non-stop.

Alfred kept pulling at his sleeves and pants, like he wasn't used to wearing clothing.

"Do I get a weapon? I feel vulnerable without Skofnung on me," he said.

"Skofnung? What in the world is that?" Susan asked.

"It's my axe."

"It's made of plastic!" I said. I was fiddling with my almost completed invention at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal with one hand while scooping spoonfuls of cereal into my mouth with the other. Sugary cereal, an essential part of any 21st-century man's breakfast, became a guilty pleasure of mine during my stay.

Alfred gave me a stare that sent chills down my spine, looked back at the wall for a few seconds, then turned back again with an even harsher stare. I promised myself then that I would never willfully converse with him again.