CHARTING A NEW COURSE

By Jo and Atonia

Jo writing Maximus, Caroline, Bud, Marie, Sid, Hope, Cort, Lachlan

Atonia writing Terry, Dee, Alex, Linda, Jack, Tarwyn, John, Bethany

PART 8:

Maximus walked out into the living room where Bud and Marie were, standing just in the doorway and smiling widely at them, thinking of how Bud had stuck with him during that desperate time when they believed Caroline had been killed in the explosion of NanoCorp. 

“Maximus?” Bud said, studying the face of the man.

“Indeed,” the General grinned, inclining his head slightly.

Bud blew out a breath and walked toward him, holding out his hand, but the General took his forearm in a more Roman grip. “Glad to have you back,” Bud sighed. “Missed you more than you know.”

“Maybe he does know, Bud,” Marie said. “Maximus, do you remember…um…Meridius?”

“I remember all of it, Marie, every bit.”

“Good,” Caroline murmured beside him. “There’s not a minute of time I’ve spent with you that I want you to lose, not even that.”

“Is Cort nearby?” he asked. “I should like to speak with him.”

“Last I saw he was up at the barn,” Lachlan offered. “He’d been out riding MacKenzie.”

Maximus looked down at Caroline. “If it is all right with you, I should like to go up and have a word with him.”  He remembered all too well the look in his friend’s eyes when Meridius showed no recognition.

“I think that’s a good idea, Darling. We’ll rustle up some lunch while you’re gone. Seems like a week since breakfast.”

Dee and Tarwyn were in the kitchen of the blue house putting together some lunch. Tarwyn told Dee about her plan to quit her job and move.

“I can understand that, Tarwyn. Why don’t you fly out there and hire a moving van to bring your things out here? You don’t have to use one of the guys and as for staying here with Jack, I don’t see a problem with that.”

“I just feel like I’ve shouldered myself in here.”

“Not at all. Jack needs you. You are a welcome addition to our little family.”

“Anything I can do?” Beth asked.

“You can make some iced tea,” Dee answered. “Where’s Terry?”

“He went after Alex up through the pines. John feels bad now cause he jumped on Alex.”

John walked around the house and found Jack standing at the chain link fence looking down toward the remains of NanoCorp.

“Not a pretty sight, is it?”

“What was it exactly?” Jack asked.

John explained NanoCorp to Jack and also the reasons for its end.

“It didn’t stop him though, did it?”

“No, he’s moved beyond needing a warp machine. There’s no stopping him now. The authorities are looking for Sid but they’ll never find him. They’d like to have Terry and me and Bud but that ain’t happening either.”

“You’re all wanted by the law?”

“Mostly for questioning. They know the building was deliberately blown up. Terry’s answered all their questions. They don’t have any evidence that we had anything to do with it.”

“I have not yet watched your movie, John. Tarwyn has me getting acquainted with all of you through the DVDs.”

“Ah, I was a small town sheriff in Alaska. I was married and had two boys.”

“You were married…and taken from your family?”

“Yeah.” John bit his lip. “I’ll never forgive Sid for that one. I mean…I know that it was only a movie, you know.”

“Yes, I do know. I, too, was married…and Sophie was only a miniature portrait. But I still have memories of her.

“I guess that’s why we need to stay together…to help each other out. We’re all in the same boat.”

Jack looked at  him a moment. A lifeboat of sorts…adrift in the sea.

Hank had just driven off in his truck to do some errands as Maximus arrived in the barn.  Cort was seated on a bale of hay, his head tipped up, watching the play of motes in a sunbeam.  Maximus stopped in the big doorway, looking at him, then saying softly, “Cort.”

Cort, jerked out of his reverie, turned his head quickly, never expecting Maximus would have come alone up to the barn to seek him out.  His heart gave a little leap but he was almost afraid to believe that his friend was truly all the way back.

“Maximus, you…you’re…”  He wasn’t sure what to say.

“I am, Cort, and I needed to see you, my friend, so that you would know.”

Briefly, Cort closed his eyes, a silent thank You wafting up from his soul. He stood then, walking toward Maximus, who was still by the doorway, his eyes scanning the face of the General as he remembered greeting Meridius by the car in front of the blue house, a friendly look in the man’s eyes but no trace of recognition. Now, though, he could see it there, see all of it there, and it meant the world to him that in the face of so much overwhelming loss, something had been returned.

He bit his lip as he extended his hand and Maximus took it into that Roman grip of his, gazing intently into Cort’s eyes.  “I have missed you,” Cort said, his voice low and full of emotion.

“No more,” Maximus replied. “I am here, fully here, and everything from the day you were tossed into the gladiator compound in Zucchabar until this very moment is clear in my mind.”

He smiled then added, “Lachlan said you were riding MacKenzie today.”

“Hank and I rode for a while, then I went on to the clearing. I needed…Decimus, you know…he…he…” Cort looked at Maximus. “How is that for you, that he is dead?”

“I have not had sufficient time in which to let my mind dwell upon all that it means to me, but this I can tell you.  I was close to him in a way as with no other. He shared every memory of my life, my growing up, my victories and my despairs. It was a unique and strange thing getting used to having such another but I was doing so and we were bonded because we were one. Now he is gone and I feel the loss of him in a deep and profound way that cannot be expressed in language. That he died giving his life to save Caroline, that is…”

“I think I understand, Maximus.  It is good that he is valued. He deserves that.”

“That and more,” Maximus said, then pressed his lips together. “Sid has done this thing, this unspeakable thing.”  His hands clenched into fists at his side. “I tire of his games, Cort.”

“You’re having a movie marathon, eh?” Terry smiled across the table at Jack. “That’s a good idea. After you’ve acquainted yourself with all of us you should watch the rest of them. A pretty interesting group of characters have been portrayed.”

“I shall do that. My understanding of this movie world is growing with each one I watch. I’ve yet to watch Sid’s movie.” Jack took a bite of his chicken sandwich.

“Save that one till last,” Alex said.

“I don’t know. I think he ought to see that one next. He hasn’t met Sid yet.”

“I agree with John. You need to meet the enemy, Jack. Dee, pass me the salt, please.”

Dee passed the salt and pepper to Terry. “When you watch it just remember he’s grown way beyond what he can do in the movie.”

“So I’ve been informed.” Jack frowned a little. “He is unstoppable, I believe.”

“So far he is,” John added. “Someday he’s going to meet his Waterloo.”

“Does he still have that crystal thing in the back of his head?” Tarwyn asked.

“He’s replaced that with a chip…at least that’s what we think. Hell, he may not even need that anymore,” John said.

Terry took a drink from his tea glass and set it down. “He’s constantly evolving and when I broke that disk and set him free of Cort’s movie, something changed. He’s stronger…and deadlier.”

“That’s what I was telling you about earlier, Jack. We didn’t know what we were dealing with when we fired up NanoCorp. He don’t need a warp anymore. He is a warp.”

“Warped is more like it,” Alex said.

Beth had been in the other room on her phone. She came back to the table all smiles.
“Guess what? I got the job at the hospital lab.”

“Ah, that’s great news, Bethany.” John gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“That is good news, Bethany,” Dee grinned. “At least one of us is employed…we still eat.”

Beth looked from one to the other. She was one of them, too. She belonged somewhere at last.

Bud and Marie were getting ready to leave and would be driving Lachlan and Hope back to the city with them.  While Hope, accompanied by Lachlan, went up to the barn to let her father know, Bud sat with Marie on the white wicker loveseat on the porch.  He was holding her left hand, tracing around her fingers with his.

“When we get back…” He paused and licked his lower lip. “When we get back I suppose you’ll want to go to your apartment.”

“I’ve been thinking about that, Bud. It’s not like I’m safer there than I would be, um, someplace else. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Sid it’s that if he wants you, he’ll take you from wherever you are.”

Bud nodded, watching her face, wondering what she would say next.

“You…with you…when…when I’m with you, it’s, well, maybe it’s not true, not where Sid’s concerned, but when I’m with you I feel…safer. Does that make any sense?  Just being close to you like this, it makes me feel…safe.”

His lips curved into a small smile and he completely enveloped her hand between his two much larger ones.  “I wish I could keep you safe, Marie. I’d give my life to…”

“Oh, Bud, no! Don’t say that! I…I need you alive. I…need you.”

“You mean that?”

“Umm hmm. I do mean that. You…you’re…I don’t know how to put it.  I just…”

He leaned toward her, setting warm, soft lips atop hers.

While Jack was watching a movie Tarwyn  made her flight arrangements. It was the first step, a commitment she was making to Jack. She called her boss and let him know she was returning the next day. She fully expected a tirade and got it but it would be the last one she would ever have to listen to.

Beth came up beside her. “Tarwyn, if you want I can go with you. That way you don’t have to drive all that way back on your own.”

“What about your new job?”

“I don’t start until next week…next Wednesday. I can do it.”

“Oh, thank you, Beth! You know I wasn’t looking forward to that long drive back alone.”

Dee came into the kitchen. “Terry and I are going to leave. Alex is going with us so Terry can do his thing and he’ll be able to drive again.”

“Okay, Dee. Thanks for everything.” Tarwyn gave her a hug. Dee was becoming like a big sister to her.

“What about my car?” Alex asked

“I can’t manufacture plates for it, Alex. It’ll have to sit for a few days. Once you get your paperwork straight, I’ll take you down to pick up some tags for it.”

Alex gave his vintage car a longing look and climbed in the back seat of Terry’s vehicle.

Bud drove with his left hand, keeping the palm of his right resting on Marie’s thigh as she sat beside him in the front seat.  She wanted to move into the safe house with him.  Despite Sid lurking heaven only knew where, Bud drove the entire two hours with a little smile on his face. 

Hope and Lachlan leaned into one another in the back seat.  There was nothing left anymore of the little girl she had so recently been. Fully woman, the feel of Lachlan’s body pressed to her side was nothing less than wonderful.

Caroline wanted to wait until Hank returned before she and Maximus started for the city. Cort and Marcus would be coming with them.  Even though she knew it was the right thing for all of them to be together back in town, the greater part of her longed just to stay at the pink house with Maximus. The eight months they’d spent there together were the happiest of her life. She wanted that again. But nothing could truly be happy so long as Sid was still able to work his wiles on their lives. Something had to be done. Some way had to be found.

John and Beth went for a walk up through the pines. She told him she was going out to Dallas with Tarwyn.

“Leaving? I’m just beginning to know you,” John complained.

“There will be plenty of time when I get back. It’s only going to be for a few days.”

“Yeah, but then you gotta go to work.”

“I won’t be working nights. I…just saying…you know.”

John smiled and stopped her on the path. “I claim your nights.” He kissed her, loving the way she felt against him.

Jack had finished watching Virtuosity and was leaning back on the sofa with a thoughtful expression. Tarwyn slipped in Cort’s movie, The Quick and the Dead and joined him leaning against his shoulder. His arm came around her.

“He’s a killer who likes his games. It’s only fun for him when you play the game with him.”

“That’s true, Jack. But Sid makes sure you play the game. You can’t walk away from him.”

“Not that I would. If I walk away from an enemy it is only because I’m coming around for his backside.”

Tarwyn laced her fingers with his and looked at the scars on his hand. “Lucky Jack.”

“I’m lucky you found me.” He brought her hand to his lips.

Sid had spent the hours since Decimus’ demise sitting in his computer chair, lost in thought. Killing a counterpart was new and he wanted to adjust to the reality it had become. Everything had happened more quickly than he’d expected it would. Just what had he expected? That a General would be harder to kill, that’s what. Even Commodus would have been disappointed with a single act in the arena.

He thought a long while about the time on the island when he had been more Maximus than Sid. He knew what it felt like to be the General, to have his memories, his abilities, even much of his nobility of character…not to mention his need for foodstuffs and sleep. He also knew what it was like to make love with a human body and to be loved in return, to hear a woman say I love you to him and mean it, to have her conceive from his seed and know he had created life in the deep recesses of her form. He knew all that because of the Maximus Chip and he had lost all that due to Maximus the man.

He had yet to discover if the deceased were Caroline’s or not. If he were, then the Maximus responsible for Brianna’s two deaths would also be dead. Meridius was left.  He’d been aware of the whole sharpie-on-the-cheek-mole thing so he knew that much. Knowing just a part of anything was not on his dance card. He frowned. No, that could not be allowed to continue, that not knowing.  Even if none of the rest of them knew, not even Meridius himself, he must know.

He warped into the blue house, finding Jack and his new female alone there, sitting on the couch, just finishing watching Virtuosity.  He stayed in the shadows of the hallway, listening to Jack’s comments about him and then his statement of how lucky he was the female had found him. It was not why he had come, but since no one else was about, he decided on the spur of the moment to ‘meet’ Captain Aubrey.

With a slight breath of air, Jack disappeared. Sid hung him draped over a high pine branch then stood aside, waiting for the mice to discover one of their number was gone.  He smiled up at the Captain, who hung so limply, his disgusting ponytail trailing up over the back of his head.  Why anyone would wear their hair in such a manner eluded him.

Tarwyn screamed when Jack disappeared.  She ran to the door and screamed his name.  “JACK!”

Her screams brought John running from the pine trees with Beth not far behind.

“Tarwyn…what?”

“Jack, Jack just…disappeared from the sofa.”

“Fuckin’ Sid again!” John exclaimed. “Jack, Jack?”  he called out. “Tarwyn, go check the water tower.” That was a favorite of Sid’s. Hadn’t he hung Terry up there by the ankles? “Bethany…just start looking.”

Beth, standing open mouthed and rooted to the ground for a moment, ran back into the pines calling for Jack.

Tarwyn was in full panic mode. She ran to the fence and looked up at the tower and then over the NanoCorp grounds. “Oh….oh, Jack!” The back yard, top of the house…where? “Jack, where are you?”

John was searching with his phone to his ear, waiting for Terry to answer.

“Yeah, John?” Terry was within sight of Dee’s house.

“Fuckin’ Sid has done something with Jack. He’s missing. Just disappeared off the sofa.”

“Ah, bloody waster! All right, I’m turning around.” Terry tossed his phone to Dee. “Sid’s done something with Jack.”

Alex fell back onto the back seat. “Shit…shit…shit!” He spat through his teeth.

Bud decided to stop by the blue house to drop Hope off before returning to the safe house. Actually, Lachlan was going to stay with Hope the rest of the afternoon while Bud went with Marie to gather up some of her things so she could come stay with him.  He was still having a hard time believing this was real and he pulled up in the drive of the blue house, the smile still on his face. As he opened the door, though, he heard several different voices desperately calling out Jack’s name. Fuck! Something had to have happened to the Captain.  The tone in the voices was all too damn familiar.  He’d just opened the door for Marie when Terry’s car practically slammed to a halt right behind his.

“You know anything about Jack?” Bud asked as Terry bolted grimly out his car door.

“He’s missing. John said he disappeared off the sofa.”  Terry’s eyes looked toward the water tower.

Alex spilled out of the vehicle and he headed for the woods. “Captain?” This was all too familiar.

Dee ran inside and checked the bathtub and the washer and dryer.

Tarwyn came running around the house and, seeing Terry, she ran straight for him. “Jack’s gone!” she panted. “Just disappeared right…right from my hand. I was holding his hand.”

“We’ll find him Tarwyn.” He patted her arm and then left her to search.

Beth walked nearly to the edge of the pine wood. She could hear Jack being called  by different voices. There in a fork in the path was a large old pine tree.  Squirrels were running about the branches and knocking more pine needles down. She looked up but couldn’t see the top.

Sid was watching Beth. The female was barking up the right tree. He had picked the tallest of the pines, keeping in mind how the good Captain liked to show off by riding the tallest mast on his wee vessel. He was amused for the first time in a couple of days. Would the sea dog wiggle a bit as he woke? If he did, he might well dislodge himself from his perch and come tumbling down quite like Humpty Dumpty. Did Captains crack or did they go splat? It could be interesting to see. He had only warped the man the once so he should be coming ‘round any moment. Would this feeble female discover the artfully draped limey or would he…plunge? The man was not the least bit cooperative. If he had been, he’d have gone down in the typhoon. Bad pennies, the lot of them. Always turning up. Perhaps subconsciously they all wanted to come and play in his yard?

Beth stepped back away from the tree. There was definite movement up there. More squirrels?

“All…hands…all,” Jack moaned.

“Jack?” Beth called. “Jack, are you up there?”

“Umpf.” The blast, he thought…silent it was. He tried to move and the branch bent down sending him down to the next. His sailor’s reflexes reached out for a handhold. He was thinking ratlines but he caught hold of a branch instead.

“Help! HELP!” Beth called. She’d seen him now barely pulling himself onto a branch that couldn’t possibly hold his weight for long.

Alex and John ran to her and looked up where she was pointing.

“Oh…oh, for fucks sake!” John shouted. “Hang on, Jack!”

Alex threw off his coat. “Can you climb, John?”

Terry found them. “Ah…God! Hold fast, Captain!” he shouted up in the tree.

“Let Terry go,” John said. “He’s good at this.”

Terry threw his jacket off, too. Alex gave him a boost up and he began to climb.

“Don’t move, Jack!” John called up.

“Move?” Jack said and looked down. He was becoming aware of where he was despite the pounding in his head “Oh…dear, God!”  He’d landed towards the end of a branch and it was bending down. The sturdier branches were farther down the tree but he had no way of reaching them except to let go.

Lachlan and Hope had run out, too. Bud had also come up and was standing, hands on his hips, staring up at Jack. “Fuckin’ nanotech!” he mumbled not all that quietly.

“Uncle Bud,” Hope said, touching his arm. “I could…you know…but then there’s the results. Um, what do you think I should do?”

Bud was watching Terry climbing through the rough-barked limbs, pinecones and needles cascading down on those standing below. “Terry,” he called up, “should we use Hope?”

Terry could see Jack barely hanging on and as far out as he was on that limb there was no way he could get to him. The next limb was about five feet or so below him.

“Bud, I can’t get to him! He’s…too far out! If I add my weight on that limb then we’ll both come down. Send Hope!”

Jack was fast losing his grip on the limb. The bark was coming off in his hands. “Stand away…I’m…going to fall!” he called out and the sound of his own voice pounded in his head.

Tarwyn was right under where Jack would fall, so Bud grabbed her, pulling her back. Then Hope was gone and a split second later Jack was gone.

“Where?”  Lachlan asked.

“Probably the house so he wouldn’t have to be carried.” Bud looked up the tree at Terry and Alex. “Come on down…carefully. I’m going to check in the house.” Tarwyn was already running in that direction and he took off after her.

Maximus pulled up in the drive, looking puzzled as he saw Tarwyn fly by without a glance. Bud skidded to the briefest of stops, panting, “House! Jack! Pine tree! Hope!” Then he, too, was gone.

“Hope? What did he mean about Hope?” Cort sprang out of the car, Marcus on his heels and took the porch steps four at a time.

Tarywn came bursting into the house. “Where?”

“In there,” Dee pointed to Cort’s room. She had a handful of wet towels.

“Oh, Jack, Jack!” Tarwyn touched his face, his chest and his arm. He was out cold.

“Here, put this on his head.” Dee handed her a wet towel. “It’s the warp, honey. He’ll come around.”

Alex hit the ground first and rolled. Terry was close behind him. Both of them had scratches on their arms and bloodied palms from climbing up the pine bark.

John waited to make sure they were okay and walking and he ran back to the house. Beth was in the living room, trying not to cry and trying to stay out of the way.

Lachlan burst in looking for Hope, who was standing out in the hallway, staring at Jack.  He didn’t like the expression on her face.

“What’s up, Hope?”

“He knows.”

“Sid?”

“Yes, Sid knows what I was doing. He’s not…pleased.”

Dee took Terry and Alex into the kitchen to wash their hands and clean up their scratches.

“He’s been warped twice. I imagine he’s going to have one hellacious headache,” Terry said, wincing as she applied astringent to his scrapes.

“I don’t know what you thought you could do climbing up that tree,” Dee said. “Even if you could have gotten to him, Jack’s a big man.”

“I had back-up.”

“Yeah, he would have just tossed him to me,” Alex grinned.

Dee shook her head and applied a little more astringent.

John slipped his arm around Beth. “He’ll be all right, Beth. Good job finding him. I don’t know why I didn’t think to look up.”

“It was the squirrels. This is bad, isn’t it?”

“It’s just Sid playing with Jack. It’s not the worst he can do.”

“I…I don’t want to see the worst.”

“I hope you never have to, sweetheart.”

With his arms dabbed with antibiotic ointment, Terry went into the bedroom. Tarwyn had laid down beside Jack.

“It usually takes about thirty minutes or so when they’ve been warped twice. May not take as long for him since he came out of the first one. He’ll have a headache but he’ll be okay, Tarwyn.”

“Do…do you think his watching Virtuosity had anything to do with this?”

“No, it was just his turn in the barrel. Sid probably likes that he watched his movie.”

Jack moved his head a little. “He’s about to come out of it now.” Terry stood up and touched Jack’s arm.

Cort, though, had heard what Hope had said to Lachlan. “He’s not pleased? You said Sid’s not pleased? What do you mean by that, Hope? Did he…did you…?”

“I don’t know, Daddy. It was like I…I brushed past him when I warped the Captain down from the tree. He was right there and I could feel it, that he didn’t like me interfering in what he was doing.”

Lachlan held tightly on to her. “There’s got to be some way you can find to defend against him, Luv. There’s got to be some way for your blue to outdo his.”

Cort was horrified at the thought of his daughter in combat with Sid. “No, little darlin’,” he said, “I can’t have you…”  But she was gone and he didn’t know if Sid had taken her or she’d gone on her own into the blue.

Maximus had gone into the bedroom and was standing not far from Jack as the Captain began to open his eyes.

Jack blinked and looked down the bed. Meridus…no, Maximus. His head felt like someone had fired a cannon inside of it. He squinted his eyes a little and felt his forehead, pulling away the wet towel.

“Jack, are you all right?” Tarwyn was right there.

“I think so.” He looked again at the General. “Well, Sir, I never thought to meet you flat on my back.”

“Think nothing of it, Captain. I seem to have spent a great deal of time in a like manner myself today. I wished to ascertain the state of your health. I understand you have had the misfortune to make the acquaintance of Sid’s warp.”

 “Indeed I have.” Jack glanced down at himself. “I seem to be all of a piece…except for the cannon fire in my head.” He tried to sit up and had to lie back down. “I understand you have regained your memory. I was glad to hear it.”

“Perhaps a little rest until you feel more recovered. It will be my honor to speak with you soon.”  He tipped his head and then turned because he’d become aware Cort was greatly disturbed.

“She’s gone, Maximus! Hope is gone again!”

“She is becoming very proficient in dealing with this phenomenon of blue. I myself am testimony to that. It may be she is merely testing her range.” He put a hand on Cort’s shoulder. “Truly, Cort, that may well be what is happening here.”

“Or not,” Cort replied grimly. “And we have no way of knowing which, do we?”

Caroline had grabbed hold of Maximus’ hand. With Hope gone, with Jack just having been warped into a pine, she needed to hold tightly onto him. Lachlan was almost as upset as Cort.  He wanted desperately for Hope to be gone of her own volition, but he just wasn’t sure, and that was driving him wild with anxiety. He turned to Cort. “She said she felt Sid brush past her in the blue, Cort. I don’t…” but then Cort was gone, Caroline was gone, and he was gone, too. There was a small thump in the hallway as a boot with a wooden foot and a portion of a pegged lower leg dropped down from seemingly nowhere, right where Cort had been standing.

DIRECTLY CONTINUED AS THE DEADLY OUTLAW

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