A
fter Abraham was fed under the watchful eyes of Otis and Haymaker, he was strapped to another gurney and loaded into a green military ambulance and hauled away. Otis and Haymaker sat inside the ambulance cabin with their stun rods in their hands. Neither man took his eyes off him. The ambulance bounced over potholes and swayed on the hard bends in the road.
Abraham had no idea where he was. He opted for small talk. “So, how much does a good orderly make these days? Fifteen, twenty dollars an hour?”
“Shut up,” Otis said. He stuck his stun rod on Abraham’s nose. “Don’t make me shock you.”
“I’m not so sure that you want to do that. You might bring Dr. Jekyll out.” He eyeballed Otis’s swollen cheek. “You have a tough time with him, don’t you.”
“I’ll say,” Haymaker said in a cheery country-boy manner. “You tossed us around like bales of hay the last time you switched. But we’ll be ready for you next time. We can handle it.”
“Yeah, with me strapped up like this, you might.” He strained against his cuffs. “Pretty strong, but I think Ruger Slade is stronger. In the other world, I have superpowers. I can snap these bonds like twigs.” He shrugged his eyebrows. “Like twigs.”
“Yeah, well, if Dr. Jack was smart, he’d let us kill you. You’re the source of all the trouble. I don’t know why, seeing how you are one man, but they are obsessed with you.” Otis sniffed. “They’d be better off without you.”
Abraham had no idea why he was more special than the other otherworlders that had soul swapped. He understood that he traveled between both worlds, but why it was him but not the others, he didn’t know. Why me?
For the life of him, he couldn’t recall anything special having happened in his life, aside from the plane wreck, when the plane was struck by lightning and he somehow survived.
The ambulance rumbled down the road. It bumped and jostled over rugged terrain. With no windows inside the cabin, Abraham had no idea if it was day or night. Suddenly, the rough road became smooth. The ride went on for a few more minutes, then the ambulance’s brakes squealed to a halt.
The double doors on the back of the ambulance popped open. Two soldiers in black-gray camouflage, wearing machine guns strapped over their backs and mesh baseball caps, stepped aside while Otis and Haymaker pushed the gurney out of the back.
The gurney’s legs dropped open underneath Abraham. The orderlies pushed him along on the casters. They were inside an old tunnel, the walls made of old cinder blocks. The ceiling was at least twenty feet high. The tunnel was lit by military tree lights. Gas generators made a steady hum. On the walls of the tunnel were more heavy equipment and generators. A Jeep and a Humvee were there. Long black power cords ran along the floor.
“Nice place. Let me guess, Batman lives here,” Abraham said.
“No, that’s another cave,” Dr. Jack said.
Abraham heard the man’s voice but didn’t see him. He craned his neck around. Aside from Otis and Haymaker, he saw only the two other soldiers. “You aren’t really going to keep me strapped to this thing forever, are you? I said I’d help.”
“Stand him up,” Dr. Jack said.
Otis and Haymaker adjusted the custom-made gurney with a tilt that stood Abraham almost straight up.
He was facing the entrance of the tunnel, where he could see the ambulance, other vehicles, generators, and the other equipment. The bigger, rectangular generators were loud. A fuel tanker truck was pulled into the tunnel as well.
“What is this, one of those underground bunkers like that place in Colorado called NORAD? Or is this NORAD?”
Dr. Jack stepped into view and said, “No, it’s not NORAD.” He wasn’t smoking.
“What’s the matter, did you run out of cigars?”
“We don’t smoke in this facility.” Dr. Jack gave Otis and Haymaker a look and said, “Go ahead, turn him around.”
With one arm, Otis spun Abraham around one hundred eighty degrees. Teams of men in white lab coats were strolling through large ground-level computer stations. At least a dozen soldiers were standing guard back against the tunnel’s walls. He could make out a few familiar faces. Eugene Drisk, older and frumpy, was talking to Colonel Drew Dexter and Ottum the zillon. Colonel Dexter held an iPad and dotted it with a pen. His moustache twitched when he glanced at Abraham.
Well, if it isn’t a couple of my favorite persons. Evil scientist and power-mad military man.
“Ah, I see more of my favorite people,” Abraham said. “Is this the secret lair of evil geniuses?” He nodded his head. “It’s very sinister.”
Dr. Jack moved deeper into the tunnel. “You’re a funny man.”
The orderlies shoved Abraham forward. He noticed some odd lettering on the generators that they passed. In large letters painted white, it read, Drakeland Corp. The letters were configured like a logo, and they ran through a rising sun. Interesting. This isn’t military equipment. It’s private industry. I bet Sid and Smoke would want to know about this.
Dr. Jack shook hands with Colonel Dexter.
Eugene Drisk almost jumped out of his lab coat when he saw Abraham. Shielding himself with his iPad, he said, “That’s not…?”
“No, that’s not Ruger. It’s Abraham. Good ol’ washed-up Abraham,” Dr. Jack said. “And he wouldn’t be here unless he’d agreed to cooperate. He’s game for our big plan… Aren’t you, Abraham?”
“I just want to get this over with one way or the other,” he said.
“Good.” Dr. Jack grabbed Ottum’s hand in his and said, “Well, what are we waiting for. Let’s turn the Time Tunnel on.”
