The Misplaced Mentor Read online

  Celeste tossed the ball once more. Christopher swung and, finally, hit the ball. It soared past the first base foul pole.

  “There you go, Chris!” She cheered, “Remember to follow through on your swing! Keep this up and we’ll have you on the varsity team in no time!”

  She reached into the bag by her feet grabbed another baseball and reared back for another pitch, when the sharp sound of static buzzed through their ear buds. Both she and Christopher yelped in shock as they yanked them out.

  “What was that?” Celeste yelled as she jogged back to home plate.

  Christopher rubbed his ear as he examined his wrist-tablet.

  “I have no idea,” he conceded, “but that’s never happened before. Uncle Tremain and I made sure the connection between the tablet and the ear buds couldn’t be interrupted.” He tapped a few icons on his wrist. “Maybe we miscalculated somewhere, but . . .” He looked up to see Celeste had grown still. She stared at something behind him, her eyes as wide as dinner plates.

  Then he heard the growl.

  He turned around slowly to see the fence around the baseball field had disappeared, replaced by a primordial forest. The air shimmered like a veil had been placed around them. What had captured Celeste’s attention, however, was the beast not ten yards away and moving towards them.

  Christopher had never seen anything like it. It stood about four feet off the ground, on six long tentacles undulating along, propelling the thing forward. Coarse, black hair covered the muscular body, up the neck to the small head, which ended in a puckered mouth full of sharp-looking fangs. Four long tentacles surrounded the mouth, each ending in three digits that reached out and grasped at the air around it. Christopher could see no eyes. Was it blind?

  “W-what is that thing?” Celeste’s hoarse whisper came to him, as she grabbed his arm. He didn’t answer as the beast swiveled its head around at the sound, tentacles waving towards them. It gave a growl and moved in their direction, its ‘legs’ propelling it forward in a smooth motion. The fingers at the end of each tentacle oscillated back and forth, searching for the source of the sound.

  Christopher realized the beast was indeed blind. It couldn’t see them, per se, but it did hear every little sound. It most likely tracked its prey this way. He assumed the creature was just as confused by its sudden appearance as they were. Adjusting his grip on the bat, he took a step backward, away from the creature and inadvertently hit the duffel bag at his feet. The other equipment inside made a clanking sound. He jumped back as the beast’s mouth tentacles shot forward and down, grabbing for the duffel bag. Celeste whimpered as the thing pulled the bag apart, looking for something edible.

  Christopher backed away towards the pitching mound, pushing Celeste behind him. He turned around to motion her to be quiet, pointing to his ears.

  “It can find us by sound,” he whispered in her ear. She nodded as she backed away, then tripped over her own two feet, yelping as she fell on her bottom in the grass.

  The beast’s head whipped up and it shot towards them. Celeste screamed and scrambled away. Christopher stood his ground, gripping the bat as the creature propelled itself into the air, leaping towards the sound.

  Time slowed to a crawl for Christopher. He marveled at the speed and grace of the creature.

  He could smell it, a rich, musky scent. A drop of saliva hung from its mouth. A part of him wondered about its natural habitat, where it actually came from, what it normally ate, was the black a sort of camouflage or were there variations in coloring? Another part wondered at what had caused this thing to appear before them, what caused the shimmer?

  Almost without thinking, Christopher swung the bat as hard as he could, his eyes never leaving that pucker of a mouth.

  Don’t miss don’t miss don’t miss don’t miss . . .

  He didn’t.

  The bat connected with the creature’s head as it soared in front of him, about chest high, right in his wheelhouse, missing all four mouth tentacles. The impact jammed Christopher’s arms, he felt it up into his shoulders as he followed through, the bat snapping as he did so. Time snapped back to normal speed as the creature flew backward, crashing to the ground, spitting out teeth and blood. It writhed in obvious pain making Christopher almost feel sorry for it. Almost. The beast recovered quickly and searched the air again. Celeste screamed once more and the tentacles zeroed in on her, digits snapping. Christopher threw himself in front of his girlfriend, blocking the creature.

  He closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his face, expecting to feel the beast collide with him any second. Nothing happened. He opened his eyes once more to see the baseball diamond as it had always been. No primordial forest, no beast, not a tentacle in sight. He picked up a tooth shard among the remains of the duffel bag. At least he had some sort of proof of what had happened.

  He whirled to Celeste who sat in the grass, stunned. She stared at nothing, breathing fast as the adrenaline ran its course. Her eyes flicked up to Christopher.

  “What was that thing?” she panted out between breaths.

  “I don’t know,” he answered. “but I have a feeling my uncle may have something to do with it.”

  Celeste stood, wiping the grass from her pants.

  “How would he have anything to do with that . . . animal?”

  Christopher wrapped his arm around her shoulder, giving her a half-hug. She reached around and hugged him tight.

  “Trust me,” he said, “if something weird is going on, chances are my uncle has something to do with it. And if this happened to us . . .” His voice trailed off.

  “What?” Celeste asked.

  Christopher didn’t answer her, just unfolded his tablet from his wrist and placed a quick call. His mother’s face filled the screen.

  “Christopher!” she smiled as she recognized her son, “How’s baseball?”

  “It’s fine, mom, um . . .” He didn’t know exactly what to ask.

  Davie’s face grew concerned, mother’s intuition and all.

  “What happened?” She seemed to move closer to the screen, her eyes darting all over the place, “are you alright?”

  Christopher nodded and held up his other hand, waving her off.

  “Yes, we’re fine, we had a strange thing happen here that’s hard to describe. Are you and Dad okay?”

  Davie’s face now took on a confused look.

  “Why would we not be okay? We’re just getting some gardening done, now that the weather has turned nice.” She frowned, “What happened?”

  Christopher quickly explained to her the incident with the creature. Her surprise and concern quickly turned to annoyance.

  “Call your uncle. I’m sure Tremain had something to do with this,” she snapped, then ended the call.

  Christopher dialed up the lab, where he was sure to find his uncle. Instead of his uncle’s face, he saw an icon. Solomon’s voice came from the speaker.

  “Hawking labs, this is Solomon. How may I assist you, Christopher?”

  Solomon! Christopher had forgotten his uncle had installed the new AI.

  “Is my uncle there? I need to speak with him.”

  “Tremain is not in the building at this moment. I can try and connect you to his tablet, or I can give him a message. Which would you prefer?”

  Not in the building? Where would he have gone?

  “Let him know I called. I’ll try again later.”

  “Very good. I’ll do that. If I may, your heart rate is elevated. Have you been exerting yourself?”

  Christopher smiled. Had Tremain programmed Solomon with health monitoring too?

  “Yes, we’ve been playing baseball.”

  “I understand exercise is good for your health. Keep up the good work.”

  The call ended, Christopher replaced the tablet on his wrist and gathered what he could of his equipment. He’d get Celeste home. A little rest would do them both good after today’s strange events.

  CHAPTER 3

  Davie w
orked in the mudroom in her home. She dug at a tray of plants, separating the individual plants from their containers, a half-full bag of garden soil next to her. Her overalls were scuffed with dirt and grass stains, her fingers were dark with the rich soil. She wasn’t really paying attention to her plants, her mind was on her brother. What project was Tremain working on this time? She’d give him a good piece of her mind when she talked to him again. How dare he put Christopher and Celeste in any danger?

  Her spade chopped at the dirt, causing it to spray over the work table. Her husband, Daylin, entered carrying a tray of bedding plants. He set the tray down and held her hands to stop the carnage.

  “Hold on there, Davie, what’s got you all fired up?”

  Daylin had been lost and considered dead for the past nine years, but Tremain and Christopher had unintentionally found him on their last adventure. In the months since he’d been back, he’d recovered quite nicely. He’d filled out, shaved his scraggly beard and had lost the haunted look in his eyes. He was just starting to sleep better, the nightmares having receded for the time being.

  “Christopher called. He and Celeste had an incident and Tremain must be involved somehow.”

  Daylin nodded. He knew his brother-in-law well enough.

  “They’re ok, though?”

  Davie nodded, wiping her hands on a towel.

  “Yes, they’re fine. They’re coming home now.” She tossed the towel back onto the bench and exhaled in frustration. “I’m going to kill Tremain.”

  Daylin smiled. He knew as much as her brother irritated her, the worst she would do is yell at him. He’d seen this dynamic play out since he’d met Davie so many years ago. He decided to deflect her ire for the moment.

  “Do you think we have enough flowers now, Vee?” She smiled at his use of her pet name, “I can go get more.”

  Her shoulders relaxed and she turned to face him and place a kiss on his cheek.

  “We have plenty, thank you.”

  He started to say something, then hesitated.

  “What?” she asked

  “Nothing, I was just thinking about trying to get back in at the botany lab. I feel better now, and . . .” He shrugged.

  Davie pulled away from her husband and lifted the tray of flowers she’d been working at.

  “I’m sure you feel fine, but let’s just see what the doctors have to say first. You have plenty of time to get back to work. You’re not tired of me already, are you?” She winked at him and smiled, her anger and frustration now forgotten.

  “Of course not . . . I just want to get back to normal.” He leaned back on the work bench and crossed his arms.

  “I know you do,” Davie said as she headed towards the back door, “and you will, just give it a little more time.” She pushed through the door and froze.

  In front of her wasn’t the back yard at all.

  Jump-suited personnel walked back and forth in front of a large, white habitat module. Large flat-bed trucks trundled in the distance, pulling enormous trailers of material as they cleared foliage, the treads in their huge tires leaving mountainous ruts in the mud. In the far distance, a shuttle could be seen starting its descent to the surface, the sunlight gleaming off the metal and glass. The hab door in front of her opened and out came a woman wearing another jump suit. She froze when she spotted Davie.

  Davie gasped as she realized what she was seeing.

  This was the colony.

  In the past.

  She was somehow seeing the colony as it existed way back when the colonists had first landed.

  “Hello!” called the woman, who waved at Davie, “Wh-who are you? Can I help you?”

  Davie turned to go back into the house, tray of flowers still in hand, only to see that her house wasn’t there. Instead, she saw the wall of another hab, shimmering.

  What in the world?

  “I said hello?” The woman called again, “do you understand me?” She walked towards Davie.

  Davie stood stunned. What had just happened? How did she get . . . here?

  As the woman walked toward her, the air around them shimmered. It thickened in places and wrinkled, warped, and whisked away, pulling the image of the old colony away with it. In front of her, Davie could see her backyard once again. The large tree that created a canopy over her yard stood stock still and gave her the feeling of stability and permanence. She took a deep, shaky breath.

  Behind her, Daylin came outside with another tray of flowers.

  “Might as well help you plant.” He grinned, then stopped when he saw the look on her face, “What. What did I miss?”

  Davie shook her head, her brows furrowing.

  “I don’t know, but I’m definitely going to give my brother a talking to.” She said through gritted teeth.

  ∆ ∆ ∆

  Tremain set the box of lodestones on the workbench just as Solomon’s voice chimed out.

  “Tremain, you have a call, it’s Davie.”

  Tremain looked up, his brows furrowed. Davie calling?

  “Oh yes, I’ll take it.”

  One part of the wall brightened and his sister’s concerned face filled the area.

  She did not look happy.

  “Davie . . . to what do I owe this . . .” Tremain began.

  “What the hell are you working on, Tremain?” Davie blurted out as she cut him off.

  Tremain blinked, taken aback.

  “Whatever do you mean?”

  “Christopher and Celeste were almost eaten by some tentacled beast.”

  “And you think I had something to do with that?”

  Davie nodded and pointed a finger at him through the video.

  “Yes. And I had a weird thing happen too,”

  She recounted the events of her experience to her brother, who listened intently, his arms crossed as she finished. He was silent for a long time.

  “Are Christopher and Celeste okay?” he finally asked.

  “Yes, they’re on their way home.”

  Tremain nodded.

  “And you think I am involved in this somehow.”

  Davie sighed.

  “You and trouble seem to go hand in hand these days. I thought you had some experiment or something that had gone a little sideways, or you had a little too much going on and something else happened. You know . . .”

  Tremain nodded, then unfolded his arms and smiled at her.

  “Well, rest assured, I have nothing of the sort going on. No trouble, no experimental anything,” He rattled the box of lodestones, “I’ve only been gathering some crystals.”

  Davie frowned.

  “You didn’t do anything to cause these things?” She didn’t seem convinced.

  Tremain sighed.

  “Have I ever lied to you?” He shook his head, and waved his hands in front of him, “I mean on important things.”

  Davie smiled.

  “No, you haven’t. But what could have caused them?”

  “And are they related?” He thought for a bit, “I’ll look into both, have a talk with Christopher too.”

  “You’re going to look into this?”

  “Naturally. Something strange is going on, and now I want to know why.”

  CHAPTER 4

  The setting sun cast a rosy glow on the facade of the museum building, highlighting the sign which read: “The Mayflower people and their culture: Limited time exhibit” Crowds of people of all ages milled about, waiting for the doors to open. Tremain and Alice pushed their way towards the will-call window. They were met by Hollis Perlmutter, who stood, tickets in hand, waiting for them.

  “An amazing turnout, what?”

  “I would say so,” Tremain replied, “congratulations, Hollis.” He took the tickets from his friend, who looked around, confused.

  “Christopher isn’t here?” Hollis asked, then nodded his head at Alice, “oh, hello, my dear. No slight intended.”

  Alice laughed, and shook her head, making her curls bob and weave.

&nbs
p; “No slight received, Hollis.”

  Tremain cleared his throat.

  “No, Christopher and Celeste had a little excitement earlier today, so they’re recovering. I can’t wait to hear more about it.” He patted Hollis on the arm, “Don’t worry, he’ll come see the exhibit soon.”

  The Professor’s answer was drowned out by the ringing of bells as the doors opened. It was a gradual reveal as they opened to a large set of curtains placed around the center of the floor. Hollis waddled over to a large theatrical cord hanging in the front.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” he began, his loud voice easily filling the room. “It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to our exhibit. The Mayflower People!” He pulled the cord and the curtain dropped. The oohs and aahs from the crowd were almost deafening as a huge banner was revealed hanging over a grouping of huts.

  They were about half-sized, scaled down to easily fit the central fire pit and what seemed to be a larger, more regal looking construction. Tremain recognized it as the Ka-tahn’s hut. Every detail was just as he remembered from his trip to the past.

  “Well, I’ll be.” Tremain slowly made his way around the entire display, staying outside the roped off area keeping the general public at arm’s length. “The detail is remarkable.” He glanced up at Alice. “Almost as if we were back on the Mayflower.”

  “Did the Professor get all this from the dig?” she asked.

  Tremain shrugged.

  “No idea. I’m sure there were records in the archives, but this is something else.” He placed his hands on his hips. “Hollis has outdone himself this time.” He motioned up to the sign hanging above the display. “And the signage is pretty impressive too.”

  Alice looked up to see the sign, which had been made from smart-material, shift from a satellite image of the village location, including the tower where Tremain and Christopher had been imprisoned for a short while, to a scene of the dig site, to an apparent recreation of the village as it once might have been, back to the original satellite image. She whistled.