Oracle--Solar Wind Read online

  “But you’re not a real judge,” Dusty said. “This isn’t a real court.”

  “Well of course this isn’t an act of actual litigation,” Coy acknowledged.

  “Good,” Dusty said, having proved his point. “Besides,” he added, getting up to leave, “alcohol is perfectly legal.”

  “Did you not hear what I said?” Coy questioned. Dusty stood still. “I said we’re trying the sensibleness of alcohol, not the legality of it.”

  “Oh,” said Dusty, his quick escape halted.

  Coy challenged, “We’re putting alcohol on trial—”

  “Is that right?” Dusty accepted with sudden interest, sporting a look of defiance as he sat back down.

  “—And you are going to defend it.”

  Cracking his knuckles, Dusty said, “Bring it on.”

  CHAPTER 14

  LYE’S REVENGE

  The phenomenon of the aurora borealis had proven to be a source of enlightenment for Ret. His nightly observations of the Northern Lights had an energizing effect on him—recharging his batteries, so to speak—and it ignited a curiosity within him to learn the exact nature of the next element he was starting to control. Was it the air in the wind or the energy that blew it? Could he only manipulate existing electromagnetic waves or create his own? Was it light as a whole or the individual frequencies within light? The possibilities seemed endless.

  As the days passed, Ret added a sort of early-morning practice session after each night of watching the lights. When the aurora again became indiscernible among the superior rays of the rising sun, Ret would set out in search of a secluded area where he could experiment with his power over all things in the air. He came to favor one place in particular, about a mile from the trailer, where a pair of hills provided a measure of privacy, even though not much besides an occasional fox or moose stirred the stillness of Canada’s northern reaches.

  As Ret quickly discovered, the element of wind was but an umbrella that encompassed a host of other components. He could work the wind, of course—start and stop it with ease—but he could also influence anything with energy. Like a human prism, he could diffract light to single out specific colors, even meddle with frequencies and wavelengths to turn one color into a different one. He could refract light, too, bending it and varying its velocity so as to create optical illusions, like when a slanted pencil looks broken in a glass of water. When the sun finally peeked above the mountaintops, Ret rerouted some of the heat waves to come his way.

  Despite his remote location, Ret was able to get a few channels—radio, television, and the like. Some mornings, he would sit back and look at the signals being rained down from satellites orbiting the earth, but there was seldom anything good on. So he’d often switch to the wide-waved radio signals stretching across the sky and search for a good instrumental station. Every now and then, the microwaves of a wireless telephone conversation would stream by, but Ret tried not to tap in. But oh, the sounds! Ret’s ears picked up any and all disturbances to the molecules in the air. From the bird flapping its wings to the ant carrying its things, Ret could pick up sound waves near and far and amplify them like a microphone or throw them against a wall to create an echo.

  At first, this bombardment of lights, waves, and noises was tremendously overbearing, an overload for the senses even for Ret. With some effort, however, he developed the capacity to tune in or tune out the sights and sounds all around him. It was a skill he hoped to fully master once he collected the actual element, the procurement of which was a topic that Stone brought up frequently.

  “Have you figured out anything more about the next element?” Stone would usually ask whenever Ret returned to the trailer after one of his morning practice sessions. Then, after Ret shared any news, Stone would typically reply, “Keep up the good work,” adding a caution not to give away their position.

  Ret regularly reassured them that all the activity he conjured could only be seen by him. The last thing he wanted to do was disrupt the lives of Lester and Virginia Stone. Theirs was a simple existence, disconnected from the outside world. They had neither telephone nor television—anything that might create a signal or leave a trail. They produced little waste, rationed their dehydrated foodstuffs, and passed the time by reading together. Although they had virtually nothing, they had each other, and that was all they wanted.

  Little did they know, however, that their secret way of life had recently been discovered by the one person they wished to avoid most: Stone’s disgruntled ex-boss. Lye was perplexed when his clone stopped in front of the random trailer in the clearing of the thicket. Experience told him the situation called for patience, not impulsiveness. Rather than make a mad dash into the mobile home, he would first hide out and observe. And so, as soon as the night’s lights were gone and the clone’s eyes went blank, Lye dragged it back to the dogsled on the outer edge of the woods and then concealed himself in a spot with a good view of the trailer.

  Imagine Lye’s surprise when, not much later, Ret came around the corner from behind the trailer, crossing the front lot on his way to practice his powers after another night of watching the lights. Lye almost gasped out loud. He marveled at the incredible odds of the happenstance but quickly ascribed the once-in-a-million coincidence to the clone. Of course! The clone was a part of Ret—like an extra finger—an appendage that was somehow connected to its host. It was trying to get home.

  This stunning revelation could only be interrupted by the bafflement Lye experienced when he saw the trailer’s curtains being drawn by—Virginia? Virginia Stone? Lye was astonished beyond all reason. A few minutes later, Lester walked through the room. A wicked smile began to form on Lye’s face. His blood started to boil with revenge. He had found Stone.

  Perhaps the clone wasn’t so worthless after all.

  It was Lye’s patience that made him the most evil villain of all time. As much as he wanted to strike then and there, he knew he had to play his cards right. There was Ret to consider. Lye would need to attack in his absence, not only because the young man’s powers were an increasingly even match for his own but also because the clone had to go undetected. The clone had proven its usefulness, and it was very possible that Lye no longer needed the real Ret anymore, which was the desired outcome that had been the brainchild of the clone.

  So Lye forbore. For a few days, he spied on the Stones and their third wheel. He noted what time Ret left each morning and how long he stayed away. He watched when Lester went out to the truck or when Virginia fed the dogs. Other than that, Lye witnessed firsthand how the hermits purposely didn’t get out much.

  Once he had their habits memorized, Lye formulated his plan and pounced.

  It was all too perfect.

  Lye knew he had less than half an hour to drag the lifeless clone back through the trees before Ret, as usual, came striding across the clearing. Lye watched him leave and then waited several minutes until he knew he was far enough away. With Ret gone, Lye was free to do whatever he wished with the Stones.

  Lye hadn’t quite emerged from the shadows of the thicket when the Stones’ dogs began to growl. Before they could even bark, however, Lye vaporized the water in their bodies, reducing each canine to a wave of steam and a pile of hair. Then he cordially walked up the front steps.

  There was a knock at the door.

  Sitting at breakfast, Lester and Virginia stared at each other. Lester got up from the table, walked to the door, and looked out the peephole. One glance at the hideous face staring back at him sent Stone into a state of complete and utter terror.

  “Who is it, Lester?” Virginia asked. Her husband was stiff with shock. “Lester?” Then, with growing anxiety, she pressed, “Lester, who’s there?”

  Although he knew he was an unwanted guest, Lye rolled his eyes when no one opened the door. He had heard the approaching footsteps and seen the peephole become overshadowed, two tell-tale signs that someone was home but wasn’t going to answer. Nevertheless, the spurned visitor forced his
way in. With a clap like thunder, Lye zapped the thin door, blowing it from its hinges and launching it into Stone, who crashed into the wall opposite the front door. Virginia let out a startled scream and ran for the kitchen.

  “Hello, Stone,” Lye hissed.

  “Get out of my house,” Stone demanded as he extricated himself from the cheap wall.

  “You call this tin can a house?” Lye insulted, walking over the threshold.

  “What do you want from me?” Stone asked, backing up with each of Lye’s steps.

  “You left,” Lye stated simply, blowing the recliner out of his way. “You and I both know no one just leaves.”

  “I’m done helping you, Lye,” Stone asserted, bumping into the table behind him. “Now get out of here!”

  “I wish I could,” the white-haired wretch lied, “but I’m afraid you know too much.”

  Just then, Virginia appeared from behind Lye and, with all her might, hit him over the head with a cast-iron skillet. Lye reeled in pain from the blow. Then Stone grabbed the wooden chair at his side and smashed it over Lye’s back, knocking him to the floor.

  Lester grabbed Virginia’s hand and fled to the bedroom. Winded, Lye shakily rose to his feet, a trickle of blood dribbling down the back of his head. He yelled in anger and instantly flooded all the water pipes until they burst, breaking walls and drenching everything.

  “I warned you, Stone,” Lye snarled as he began a search of the trailer. “I gave you a chance, but you walked all over me.” By process of elimination, Lye knew the Stones were hiding in the bedroom at the end of the short and narrow hallway. “You pledged your life to me, remember? You belong to me.” He slowed as he turned the corner into the room. “Now I’ve come to take what’s rightfully mine.”

  As soon as Lye entered the room, Stone yelled defiantly, “I don’t think so,” and then fired a round from the rifle he was holding. Virginia jumped at the startling bang. The bullet struck Lye’s left breast, right in the heart. He fell back against the wall, slid to the floor, and rolled over onto his side.

  After reloading the rifle, Stone cautiously left his wife in the corner to check on the dying man on the other side of the room. Gasping for air, Lye reached into his robes and pulled out a flask, then uncorked it and took a desperate drink to save his life. With the barrel of his gun, Stone nudged Lye onto his back.

  “And I thought a man like you didn’t have a heart,” Stone eulogized, seeing a moist and slightly reddish hole in the chest of Lye’s robes.

  Defying death thanks to the mysterious liquid in his flask, Lye suddenly lunged from the ground and pinned Stone against the wall.

  “I’m no man,” Lye breathed into Stone’s horrified face. “I’m your lord.”

  Stone tried to move but couldn’t. Even when Lye let go and took a step back, Stone remained still and immobile.

  “Unfortunately for you,” Lye explained, “about sixty-percent of the human body is water.” It looked like Stone was having a convulsion, so valiantly did he struggle to release himself from the influence that was being exerted over the water in every cell of his body.

  “Stop it!” Virginia cried, rushing toward Lye.

  “No, you stop it!” Lye returned, holding up his other hand to immobilize Virginia in the same manner as her husband.

  “You may put down your weapon, Stone,” Lye calmly informed him. “Guns are of no use against me.” Still restraining Lester, Lye smiled, “Here, let me help you.” Lye unclenched Lester’s fingers, and the gun fell to the floor. “Now, Virginia, if you will kindly go in here.” Lye flung her into the small bathroom just outside the bedroom and closed the door on her. Then he passed his cane along the edges of the door, melting the frame so as to seal her inside. She immediately started wailing on the door, trying to get out.

  “And, Stone, if you will please come with me,” Lye said. Knowing he would likely resist, Lye relinquished control of Stone above the waist but maintained power over his legs. Lye dragged him feet-first out of the room. Stone reached for the gun but couldn’t grab it in time. Then, as he passed the bathroom, he touched Virginia’s fingers, which were reaching through the only crack she could find along the bottom.

  “Virginia!” he yelled, trying to latch onto the sides of walls and the legs of furniture as Lye pulled him along.

  “Lester!” she screamed back, rapping against the skinny door.

  Lye exited the trailer and marched down the steps, Stone helplessly following behind despite his best efforts to pull on cords and tug on rugs. Lye dragged him out to the center of the clearing and brought him to his feet.

  “What are you going to do to me?” Stone asked, unable to move his feet as Lye slowly paced around him in a circle like an animal taunting its prey.

  “First, I’m going to put you in your place,” Lye told him, forcing Stone to bow by bringing him to his knees.

  “How does it feel to know no one would ever willingly bow to a fool like you?” Stone mocked, grabbing two fistfuls of dirt and hurling them into Lye’s face.

  “Bah!” Lye howled, wiping his eyes.

  “No one ever obeys you out of love, Lye—only fear!” Stone continued. “You’re a loser, Lye—nothing but a cheat and a fraud. And you will fail!”

  “Hold your tongue!” Lye ordered, forcing Stone’s tongue against the roof of his mouth so that he couldn’t speak.

  “Before I take you back to the Deep, where you will live out the rest of your miserable life as one of my prisoners,” Lye said, “I’d like to discuss your severance package.” He abruptly spun Stone around to face the trailer. “Sounds like your wife is still in there.” Virginia’s cries for help could still be heard, and the trailer was shaking a bit from her futile attempts to escape. “Maybe you should go and help her.”

  Immediately feeling Lye’s invisible hand release his legs, Stone ran for the trailer. He had gone just a few yards, however, when Lye reached into the sky with his cane and sent a brilliant bolt of lightning directly into the metal home. The trailer instantly exploded, sending Stone hurtling backwards in a wave of heat and debris. A fireball consumed the lot, sending a pillar of black smoke into the air.

  Not far away, Ret heard the roar of the explosion. He looked around and saw smoke rising above the thicket where the Stones lived. Gravely worried, he entered into a full sprint back to the trailer.

  “VIRGINIA!” Stone exclaimed, reaching toward the unforgiving flames. “Virginia!” Even through the tears in his eyes, he could see the trailer and everything inside it had been incinerated. Only a pitiful pile of ash remained. With his face in his hands, Stone knelt and wept.

  A few moments later, he felt a cold chill come over him as Lye came and stood beside him.

  “Tears are prohibited in my presence,” came the killer’s terms as he whisked away the drops of water that were in and around Stone’s eyes. “You can cry all you want in my dungeon.”

  Stone’s agony momentarily gave way to anger. He clenched his fists and, rising in one rapid motion, took one to Lye’s face.

  “Murderer!” Stone bellowed, delivering another dizzying blow to the ugly old man. Lye staggered in pain. He attempted to lift his cane but Stone kicked it out of his hand.

  “No!” Lye lamented, promptly going to retrieve the twisted stick. But Stone continued jabbing at him, a one-two punch followed by an uppercut. Lye flew a few feet and landed flat on his humped back. Wasting no time, Stone leapt into the air to come crashing down on his foe, but Lye caught him and held him in mid-air.

  “Come on, you coward!” Stone demeaned. “Use your hands! Fight like a man!”

  But Lye preferred his powers. With fury, he straightened Stone spread-eagle, dangling him inches above the ground, and gradually withdrew some of the water from his body. With drops of water dotting his skin, Stone quickly looked drenched in sweat. Then his clothes became wet. Like turning a grape into a raisin, Lye maniacally maneuvered much of the water out of Stone’s body until he became dehydrated and passed out. />
  Lye dropped Stone like a rock and set out to locate his cane. He found it and was preparing to reach down to retrieve it when a mighty wind rushed into the clearing. It was strong and sudden. When Lye looked around to see what was going on, he saw something flying toward him. Without enough time to react, the figure plunged into Lye with the force of a rocket, catapulting the elder into the woods. Lye crashed through multiple trees, snapping their thin trunks and sending wood splintering into the air.

  “What was that?” Lye wondered to himself, struggling to rise after sustaining some severe injuries. He looked up and saw Ret checking on Stone. “Oh, no,” Lye feared as he took another swig from his flask, “not Ret.” Lye was about to make a run for it when he remembered he didn’t have his cane. Now that Ret was on the scene, Lye was willing to leave Stone behind, but there was no way he was leaving without the First Father’s cane.

  Lye snuck to the edge of the clearing and made a beeline for the cane. Ret, who had just barely revived Stone back into consciousness, laid him down gently and moved to cut off Lye. As they both darted toward the cane, Ret created a small gully in Lye’s path, causing him to fall in, and then closed it around his torso, trapping him halfway in the ground. Lye struggled to free himself. Then, desperate to regain his cane, he mentally felt around in the earth beneath him and located a large underground well. He channeled its water upwards, causing the ground to rumble. Sensing this, Ret held the earth together everywhere except immediately around Lye, forcing the water to erupt directly underneath him. As if he was sitting atop Old Faithful, Lye’s geyser burst to the surface, launching him out of the ground. He flew into the charred remains of the trailer, enveloping him in a cloud of soot and ashes.

  Ret picked up the spirally-twisted cane. Like touching an electrical current, it shocked him, and he dropped it. He reached for it again, this time anticipating the shock, and latched onto it. It made him feel a little fuzzy, like there was a charge running through his bones. It was the first time he had ever touched the cane, since it had always been in Lye’s careful possession in the past. He studied it closely. It looked more like a tusk grown by an animal than a staff hewn by a man, and it flared slightly at the top as if it had once been attached to something.