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AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you check my website link below, I now have TWO full color drawings of Jordan. One is in the gif image so that you can see how I visualize his appearance in this story. The other is from the sequel to "Slipstream" called "Oculus" in which he is eighteen and a freshman in college ("Oculus" isn't published yet, but I sent it away this weekend). You'll also find a link to a blog post I wrote on Kolin and killsuits embedded about halfway down the page. This blog post includes a sexy full color drawing of Kolin modeling in his armor. :) I drew both the pictures of Jordan and Kolin myself.
"Wraith" uses the main characters featured in the science-fiction novel "Slipstream," but is its own story that I will post in its entirety on Nifty. Both of these tales are based on the events established in the short story, "The Insanity of Zero." If you like Jordan, Kathy, and Kolin, please consider giving "Slipstream" a read.
If you are a reviewer for Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Fictionwise, or would just like to talk about my stories on your blog, please contact me for a complimentary e-copy of "Slipstream" in .pdf format.
Here is my author information: Website: http://slckismet.blogspot.com/p/books.html Email: kavrik@hotmail.com Twitter: @MichaelOffutt Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slipstream/164452693676933
Chapter Fifteen
"Why are you guys being so quiet?" Jordan asked.
Kathy and Kolin stared out the window at the factory walls. In the morning sunlight, the red brick, awash in black soot in places, appeared caked in blood.
"It's a little foreboding," Kathy said at last. "But what choice do we have?"
From the front seat, Jordan eyed Kolin over the bridge of his narrow but prominent nose. The Brit looked confused, almost frightened. He leafed through the journal papers Jordan had handed to him one more time; then he stuffed them back into the scientist's satchel.
"I can't remember any of this," he mouthed, with hardly a whisper coming from between his lips. "Jordy, I-I don't recall much of my childhood to be honest. But I thought I grew up in Kilvarough City, like a lot of other blokes. I'm a lot older than you, so my memories are kind of foggy. But, I can promise you I'm not the Adam referred to in these records. I'm not perfect. I have physical flaws. Some might even call me ugly."
"Oh shut up," Jordan said, rolling his eyes. "You're beautiful."
Kolin and Kathy stared at him with questioning looks. Jordan's face drained of color and he quickly backtracked.
"I-I mean f-for a guy," Jordan stammered. "H-handsome, I guess is the right word. If I were into guys, WHICH I'M NOT, I could see that you'd probably make chicks happy. Like that Eve...s-she probably thinks you'd be attractive." Jordan pinched his eyes closed in embarrassment and tapped the back of his head against the seat. Kathy tightened her jaw, said nothing, and put a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder.
Kolin looked almost disappointed when Jordan finished talking. "I guess I just have never seen myself like that," he managed to whisper.
Kathy turned to Kolin and said, "For what it's worth, you're one of the most handsome guys I've ever seen."
Kolin smiled, but continued to study Jordan. "You and your brother are incredibly fit."
She let out a derisive snort. "T.M.I., Kolin. Little bro's head is fat enough. If you're going to talk like that, maybe it's a good thing that you have no voice."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jordan asked her. He kicked his shoes up on the dashboard and handed her the most flinty of looks.
She shrugged. "You're not exactly the most humble person I know is all."
"I'm VERY humble."
She chuckled. "And pigs fly."
Jordan scowled. He glanced at Kolin's face and remembered something a person said to him once. You can tell a man's years from their eyes. But Kolin's looked ageless. Whoever had said that was fucking wrong. "You seriously don't remember your childhood?"
He shook his head. "Jordy, it was almost a century ago."
Once more, Jordan's eyes opened as wide as cup saucers. He tried to imagine that. He tried to comprehend the length of years Kolin had lived. He found himself in awe that liquid life could suspend Kolin's age forever in the mid-twenties. The Brit simply looked that good.
God, I bet he's great in bed, Jordan thought, fantasizing of taking Kolin's engorged cock between his lips, sucking on it, and tasting the hot cum.
When Jordan realized he'd almost uttered that out loud, he felt his cheeks grow hot and he stared straight forward through the cracked windshield at the blue steel garage door. "Did I just say something?" Jordan asked out loud.
"No. Did you have another thought about going inside?" Kathy asked.
He shook his head quickly. "N-no. Mind's a blank! I just wanted to make sure." Sweat rolled down the side of his neck.
"Stop being weird," Kathy said, face palming.
"We could be walking into a trap. I say we just change the tire and get out of St. Louis," Kolin stated.
Jordan breathed in to calm himself.
He sounds afraid. Kolin isn't afraid of anything.
He angled his head to give Kolin's hands a look and verified that they trembled. A quick read of the eyes revealed fear lurking behind those peepers. They also looked wet, like he could cry at any moment. But Kolin wouldn't cry--Jordan knew that. The Brit had switches inside his head that he could flip that would shut off any water works. That's how trained assassins worked.
God, what a stud, Jordan thought. I wish I could do that. "We don't know what to expect out in the Waste, Kolin," Jordan replied.
"We don't know what to expect inside this place," Kathy interrupted. "Jordan, we could be walking into a trap!"
He sighed and the breath he expelled from his lips made his blond bangs flutter. "Look, I know the danger. But there's a real opportunity here. If these notes are correct, this place could be unmanned. And there's a vehicle in there...something that can fly. Plus, what about the Armageddon device? Don't you think that's worth a looksee? What if we just keep going on and it goes off? Kat, that could kill us all. If Zero or Wraith or whatever it calls itself now is inside this building, then it could have its finger on the button. We need to find out. It's in our best interest that the monsters don't die right now. If they do, whatever kills them could take us with it."
"But what if Wraith IS inside? What do we do then? All we know is that he's the king monster. I don't know about you, but I don't want to meet the king monster," Kathy said.
Jordan stared at her, his mouth a straight line as he sucked on his lip deep in thought. "Then we unplug him."
"What?" Kolin asked.
"We unplug him. You said Zero is some kind of machine, right? That means he needs energy. He's probably not the real Zero either. I'm thinking he's a hologram or a robot or something that is like an arm of the real Zero. You know, kind of like the second or third handset for a main phone base. But the main machine is not going to be located out here in the middle of nowhere. No...whatever's in this place was put here for one purpose. To engineer a perfect human being to restart humanity on a newly terraformed world. Something that precise is not going to be the real deal because it requires too much specialization. And being out here all these years has corrupted it, made it forget who or what it is. That's why it calls itself 'Wraith.' It took its name from those letters on that sign." He pointed out the window to the sign on the side of the building. "It forgot who it was."
"I swear, you see everything," Kolin said. "I hadn't noticed that."
"I'm smart," Jordan said, tapping the side of his head with a finger. He grinned to show how pleased he was with himself.
Kathy shook her head. "Oh please. Stop patting yourself on the back."
"Kolin, I'll be with you the entire time. There's nothing to be afraid of. Let's just walk up there together, go inside, and take a look. You might start to remember your childhood? Is that such a bad thing? There might be wonderful memories waiting there. And aren't you in the least bit curious about Formula 111?"
"Or there could be nightmares, Jordy," Kathy offered. "It could traumatize him."
He nodded, acknowledging that this also could be true. Without warning, he reached between the seats and grasped Kolin's hand in his own. He could feel Kolin's pulse through the warmth of his friend's skin. "Trust me."
"Fine," Kolin mouthed. "I trust you completely."
Then, they got out of the Hummer, walked up the ramp, and stood before the door. Behind them, the dogs continued their barking from the invisible line at the gate. He watched them for a moment, and then pulled out the magnetic entry key. He waved it in front of a pad next to the door.
Jordan heard an audible click. Then the blue metal door began to roll up, revealing a garage large enough to hold five vehicles on the other side. Lights flicked on and shone brightly off the polished concrete floor. Jordan spotted a door on the east wall. A steel staircase led up to it from the parking area. A steel deck wrapped around three-quarters of the room. He counted several work benches, tool cabinets, a hydraulic vehicle lift, hoses, oil cans, and other shop implements. All of it looked cared for and someone had arranged them neatly so that they could easily be found.
The three of them stepped inside. Jordan pressed a red button on a switch that hung from the ceiling and behind them, the door descended once more. When it shut, Jordan thought it sounded like the closing of a tomb.
I plan on posting Chapter Sixteen around Wednesday. There are Twenty-One chapters total in this novella, so the end is near!