CHAPTER 21

2010

Earth

Riley opened his eyes. He brushed his hand through his unkempt beard, sat up, and placed his foot on the floor. The bed occupied most of the little room, except for a space near the door. He yawned and stayed there for a few minutes more, staring at the door. He had little to think about and wished he didn’t have to step outside. However, staying in bored him even more than going out. He had been waking up and performing the same routine for years. He sighed, stood up, and slid the door open. The next room was something resembling a living room. It was only slightly larger than the bedroom, but at least had enough space to do his morning exercise.

Riley dropped to the floor on his feet and palms, as straight as a plank. He went down, then up, then down again, doing his morning pushups. He had been living this way for a decade. Like a machine, his body clock woke him at exactly six in the morning, every morning, to perform his routine.

... 196, 197, 198,199, 200.

Riley moved to a corner of the room and walked his feet up the wall until he was in a headstand. He bent his elbows until his head was less than an inch from the ground, then pushed until his arms were straight again. He repeated this until he could no longer push himself up. Riley lowered his feet to the ground, sweating profusely. He felt his chest. With a sigh, he returned to the bedroom, slid a fitted wardrobe open, and took out a jacket. He went into his small kitchen, opened the overhead cabinet, and grabbed a bottle of gin. Riley took a silvery flask out of his jacket and filled it with the bottle, then he returned the bottle to the cabinet and the flask to his jacket. He walked through the kitchen into a slightly larger room and from that room. He ascended a narrow staircase until he emerged onto the deck of his boat. Riley looked up at the sky. He knew which birds he would see: the same as always at this time of year, every year. He watched the birds as they danced across the sky and a smile crept onto his face.

“Morning, neighbor,” a man called from the next boat across. He was cleaning the deck with a water hose in hand.

“Hey Jeff,” Riley replied.

“Nice view, isn’t it?” Jeff asked.

“Sure, same as always,” Riley answered before pouring gin down his throat.

Jeff frowned. “Isn’t it a bit early for that?”

“Pfft” Riley took the shot and turned away.

Looking out from the deck, Riley wished the rest of his day could feel as pleasant. He didn’t kid himself; the positive feelings only lasted as long as the morning. He stared at the sky a while longer, then returned inside. His bathroom barely had enough space to turn, but Riley was used to it and had a shower. After his shower, he dressed and went into the tiny living room, grabbing a can of pudding from the kitchen cabinet along the way. He poured the pudding into a bowl, then settled into his chair to eat it. Riley was about to put the first spoonful in his mouth when he heard a knock at the front door. He sighed, stood, and went to answer the door. He was greeted by an elderly man holding a newspaper.

“Hello, Riley,” the man said with a warm smile.

“Greg,” replied Riley.

“I think you’ll find today’s news plenty interesting,” Greg shook his head as he handed Riley the paper.

Riley snorted with a visible grin. “I hope so. Thanks.”

“My pleasure, ranger,” Greg replied, then disembarked.

Riley went back inside and closed the door, eagerly flipping through the pages of the newspaper as he walked back to the living room. He quickly ate his breakfast. As soon as he finished, he pushed the bowl aside and picked up the newspaper. Riley remained on the couch for a while, scanning through the pages of the paper. He had no interest in the news. He wasn’t even sure what he was looking for but he hoped he would recognize it when he saw it. Sometimes he wondered if he truly had gone insane. Leaving secret messages in the paper was one way that Riley sent messages to the future during the early days of his mission. He hoped someone was using the same method to send him a message. He would often sit on his bed, staring at the wall, wondering who might want to contact him. Eventually, he tired and told himself he was delusional. Perhaps he was.

Like all the previous newspapers, Riley found nothing of any interest. He sighed. The paper might not have held any secret message for him, but he wasn’t about to let it go to waste. He turned to the crossword and placed the paper on his table. He thought about Greg’s persistence and chuckled. Riley had first met Greg at the newspaper stand just along the street. Greg noticed that Riley had visited the stand for several days in a row and assumed he had a keen interest in politics. On the contrary, Riley couldn’t have cared less about them.

He checked his watch, then reached up to the shelf space above him. Riley took out a camcorder, placed it on the table in front of him, and pressed the record button.

“Log number... I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve done this. Not that it matters. It’s been ten years since I got here, two centuries earlier than where I’m supposed to be. I’m stuck, with no way of carrying out my mission. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” He brushed his hand through his hair. “Going to Titan HQ looks like a better option with each day that passes. I know I could break reality if I do that. I just want something to happen, for someone to find me and get me the hell out of here. I’m just…”

Riley stood up and stopped the recording. He flipped the camera and opened the cover on its back. Riley popped out the tape, put it in a plastic case, then placed the camera back on the shelf. He wrote ‘SOS’ on the case. Riley looked at the film for a moment, frozen in thought. He wondered why there was a lump in his chest. It wasn’t the first time he had made a recording and dropped it at the drop site to be retrieved in the future. Even so, each time he prepared to do it, he felt nervous, as though his actions weren’t right. He tightened his grip on the cartridge, then slipped it into his jacket. He went to the kitchen and refilled his flask. Riley opened another cabinet, containing dozens of small plastic bags. Riley took a bag and shoved it into his jacket. He climbed onto the deck, wearily. Riley took another long look at the sky. It was dawn. The birds were no longer visible but the view was still beautiful and Riley enjoyed the peace.

Riley took out a beanie from his jacket and put it on. He locked the boat, jumped off it, then went to the harbor’s parking lot. He had been driving the same red truck for a decade. He unlocked the vehicle, got in, and drove into the city.

It was a thirty-minute drive from West Harbor to the center of the city. Riley pulled over. He stayed in the truck for another ten minutes, contemplating what he was about to do. He watched as people walked up and down the street, living their lives normally. Riley envied them. They could wake in the morning without having to worry about the world ending. It had been a long time since he had done that. He struggled to remember anything before his mission, and he was glad for that. He drank from the flask, then finally stepped out of the truck. Riley walked to the front of the most important building in the world. He took another gulp, tightened the cap, and put the flask in his jacket. He looked up to the top of the building. The sign stood proudly near the top of the structure: ‘Titan Corp’. Riley ground his teeth, pacing back and forth. He looked at the main entrance to the building. He could have walked inside, tell them who he was, tell them everything. He was unsure what good it would do; even if they believed him, he doubted they had the technology to help.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Riley turned and walked across the road to the park opposite the Titan building. There was a round fountain at the center of the park, surrounded by concrete chairs.

Riley sat on one of the chairs. He took out the small plastic bag from his jacket and gently tore off its top. He tilted it until white grains rolled into his other palm. There were no birds around. He threw the crumbs on the ground. Seconds later, a pigeon landed on the chair beside him. It looked at Riley for a moment, cooed, then flew to the ground and started eating the crumbs. Dozens of other pigeons appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, almost completely covering the ground around Riley.

Once the birds finished eating the crumbs, they all looked at Riley in unison. Riley chuckled. It was the most interesting part of the exercise, the moment that reflected the understanding between the birds and him. He threw some more crumbs. The birds flew around him, pecking at the grains. Riley noticed a crumb on his thigh. He was about to flick it away when a pigeon landed on his knee, looked up at him, then picked up the crumb before returning to his fellow birds.

“I see you’ve made some friends,” a woman’s voice said.

Riley turned and saw an old woman walking to sit beside him. “Hello, Petunia,” he greeted, softly.

“Good morning, Riley,” she replied. “I wasn’t sure I would see you again after the look on your face last time.”

Riley quickly looked away.

Petunia carefully took out a plastic bag, the same type as Riley’s. She tore it open and threw some grain at the birds. “May I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Why do you come here?”

Riley hesitated to answer. He wondered how old she was, perhaps ninety. In the decade he had spent in this time, his greatest problem was not having someone to talk to. He had wanted desperately to tell someone the truth from the beginning. There were people he could speak to but such a reckless act could be catastrophic. It might alter the course of history for the worse. Petunia was so old that she couldn’t have had much time left; maybe there was no risk in telling her his story. Even so, the thought made Riley’s chest tighten.

“Why do you?” he asked.

Petunia chuckled. “It was my husband’s favorite spot in the city. Oliver loved birds, as you do. He always said they were kinder than most people, and they know things that we don’t. This is where I feel closest to him.”

Riley lowered his head. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Petunia smiled. “Thank you for saying it. He’s been gone for fifteen years now. You two would get along well if he were here. He didn’t talk much either, even though he had a lot to say. You adapt to life without a person but I still miss him.”

“I’m sure he misses you too.”

“Oh, he better do.”

Riley chuckled.

Petunia seemed surprised. “After all these years, did I finally hear a laugh out of you?”

“I know about loss.”

“Anything you’d like to share?”

Riley considered it. “Maybe another time.”

“This could be the last time we meet. I could die, so could you. We’ve known each other for a long time and you’ve wanted to keep me a stranger. I understand. That also means I’m the best person to tell your story to. I see it when I look at you.”

“See what?”

“You’re suffocating yourself, keeping it all bottled up. In my time, I’ve seen pain, and I know it when I see it. You’re drowning in it. You’re going to have to tell someone before it turns into hate and burns you up from the inside.”

Riley stared into the distance, then took a drink from his flask. “Loss is hard, can even feel pointless to try and move on. Every time I’m here, it’s like a battle. If I walk through that door,” he looked at the Titan HQ tower, “I might find what I need. But if I do, it could do more harm than good.”

Petunia sighed. “Riley.”

Riley looked at her with a weary smile. “My whole life, the choices I make, the battles I fight, they’ve always been about what I can do for the world, how I can make it better.”

Petunia shifted her head away from Riley down to pigeons “Maybe it’s time you thought about yourself.”

Riley understood why Petunia would think that. It was what anyone in their right mind would say. Riley wasn’t in his right mind. He lost that the moment he made his first jump, however long ago that was. He could hardly remember his life before the mission. He didn’t regret choosing his path. His fear, his only real fear, was that all of it, however hard he tried, would always be for nothing.

Riley threw the last of his bird food and watched them scramble for it. He looked sideways at Petunia. “We aren’t all made the same, you know,” he said as he rose from the bench. He gave Petunia a slight nod and walked away from the seats.

“I hope I’ll see you again,” Petunia said.

Riley stopped and gave her one last look. “If tomorrow wants me here, I’ll be here.”

On his way back to the truck, Riley stopped again in front of the Titan Corp building. He rolled the film in his hand a few times, then put it back into his jacket. He got into his truck and drove away.

That evening, Riley loaded a new fishing net onto his boat and replaced a damaged rudder. His neighbor, Jeff, insisted on helping him with the repair as he helped him to secure the parts. Riley initially refused but Jeff was persistent and refused to leave. Riley eventually agreed. After the repair, Jeff grinned proudly at his handiwork. Riley wanted to smile. He had to admit that Jeff had been helpful, and he was grateful.

“I owe you a beer,” Riley said.

Jeff raised his eyebrows. “A beer? I practically fixed your whole boat and I only get a beer? Try twenty.”

Riley finally gave a slight smile. “Fine. Twenty beers.”

Jeff watched as Riley prepared the boat. “Are you heading out?” he asked.

“Yeah. Going fishing.”

“Now hold on just a tick, Riley. Look at the sky!”

Riley scoffed. “I live for storms.” He finished loading up and set the boat into the water. Jeff offered to join him, but Riley refused and set out on the water alone.

A couple of hours later, Riley brought his boat to a stop on the ocean, surrounded by powerful waves. He looked up. The sky was almost completely dark with gray clouds. Riley knew rain was about to come down hard. It was going to be dangerous. That was exactly what he had been hoping for. In the past ten years, he had faced nothing intense enough to make his heart race. Sailing in storms was the closest he had come to his heart beating faster than normal. Even that couldn’t truly scare him. He missed the thrills he once felt.

Riley turned off the boat’s engine, letting the wind take him wherever it wanted. He took the net and threw it into the water. He watched for a moment, expecting to see a reaction, but nothing happened. Riley looked up again, waiting for the inevitable rain. He tugged at the reel lever. He rolled it twice to shift the net, then walked to the side of the boat and sat down. With a heavy sigh, he rested his back against the hull and raised his eyes to the sky. He slowly smiled. He felt at peace. He reached into his jacket and took out his journal. Riley caressed the cover with a gleam in his eyes. An image of Bethany and Isaac laughing together flashed into his mind.

Those memories came to an abrupt halt when a loud boom filled the air. Riley looked up and saw a craft in the air, hurtling toward him and generating multiple sonic booms. Each boom created a massive hole in the dark cloud above. Riley’s chest tightened and his heart raced like it hadn’t for a decade. Riley shoved his journal into his jacket and jumped up with clenched fists.

“Come on!” he growled with a mad smile on his face.

Riley did not know who or what was in the craft but he knew that, whatever it was, it was going to get the toughest fight of its life. The craft crashed into the water about a hundred feet from Riley’s boat and disappeared beneath the surface. The impact created a pressure surge that caused a massive wave, rushing toward Riley. Riley didn’t even try to escape. He simply stood on the deck, staring at the wave with bulging eyes and a wide grin.

The wave crashed into Riley, engulfing him and his boat in utter chaos. The boat capsized and vanished underwater. Riley plummeted into the water, trying to regain his orientation. The boat had been shattered, and pieces of it were whirling around Riley. A large piece of wooden debris slammed against Riley’s face, immediately knocking him out cold.

As Riley’s unconscious body was thrown about in the water, a beam of light surrounded him. A couple of seconds later, the light vanished, along with Riley. With another boom, the craft rapidly emerged from the water, with bright orange energy burning from its tail. In a moment, it vanished into the sky, leaving another hole in the dark cloud.