Their orders were simple: Follow the two witnesses and dispose of them.
Marco and Tony had done what they could. They followed the two little nerds out into the countryside. Marco had even thought how easy the mooks were making it for them.
It was late at night, and Tony was following the tail lights of the vehicle. Then the vehicle turned off the highway and started driving across a pasture. Tony was about to follow, when the tail lights just disappeared. They walked out into the pasture where the car had been. It just wasn’t there.
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They discussed the situation, but decided they had definitely been following the boys’ car, and that it had simply vanished into thin air. Tony believed the nerds altered the car so it could fly, as the tire tracks stopped in the middle of the field and the only logical option was that they went stealth and flew off. Marco on the other hand was very open with his ideas of a freak accident. He said God must have sent a lightning bolt to reward them for the good job they usually did, to give them a break.
“Then why didn’t we see it, you dip?” Tony asked
“We blinked. Duh.”
“At the same time, Marco?” Tony couldn’t believe his partner’s idiocy.
“We blink all the time, at the same time a lot, I figure.”
“Sheesh.” Tony shook his head “What about scorch marks, then?”
Marco looked back and forth across the ground at the tire tracks. “They’re wherever the car went.”
Tony chuckled a little, but refused to laugh. “Whatever, Marco. Believe whatever you want.” They headed back to the car.
Marco nodded.
“What are we gonna tell the boss? We can’t tell him your theory.”
“I guess we tell him yours then.”
“How about we keep those to our self and tell the boss we took care of it?” Tony thought Marco was such a wad, but he knew the nerds were smart enough to keep their mouths shut if they were dumb enough to resurface.
‘Did you see that Martha? Martha get up! Cain’t believe it.’
‘Jed … aahm still half asleep. What’s gotten into you? Come back to bed now. Hell it’s only 2 in the morning.’
‘Martha I tell you it’s happening.’
‘What’s happening?’
‘Them! I tell ya, Ma, it’s goddamn happening!
‘You gone crazy boy? What you talk’n ’bout? Aahm com’n down. This hour of the morn and you gone clear gadzooks in ya head boy!’
‘Come on, Ma. I tell ya it’s goin on aallright now. They just caint take em away like that. Where they goin to? You tell me now … where ya tak’n em to? Hey! Hey! You get on back now!’ Jed screamed as he ran outside the farmhouse which was ablaze with all lower landing lights on.
They both stood transfixed; frozen into time and space by the sharp spine of intense orange light and the image trapped within the light. A car, with what appeared to be two people inside screaming and scratching at the car windows in a desperate attempt to escape the claws of ‘the light’, was slowly ascending the shaft of light. An iridescent green oval shaped object with huge red lips surrounding a yawning black hole, appeared to somehow be sucking the car onwards and upwards. Eventually the car and its occupants disappeared into the black hole. Martha turned to Jed and for an instant saw the dread in Jed’s eyes – and then their lives, too, became a black hole.
Ripple Effect
Tony laughed when the nerds turned off the deserted highway and drove across a pasture in a desperate effort to shake them. He glanced at Marco. “They done us a favor, coming out in the middle of nowhere. We’ve chased them half the night. Let’s ice ‘em.”
Marco pulled an Uzi from under the seat of the pickup. “The boss don’t want no witnesses. Too bad the mooks drove by as we snuffed those diplomats.”
“Hey.” Tony braked the truck. “No tail lights.”
“Switched ‘em off. There’s enough light to see a white car, even at midnight.”
“Let’s hop out.” Tony slipped a small pistol from his jacket pocket.
“The tracks end right here.” Marco scratched his head. “Those little nerds vanished.”
“There’s got to be an explanation. It’s some kind of trick.”
“Hey!” Marco’s vision shimmered and the world shifted beneath his feet. Seconds later, he and Tony stood in what appeared to be the same pasture, except for the herd of mammoths and giant elk. Nearby dire wolves howled. They had lost their weapons in transit and stumbled over each other, seeking a way back. Encircled by the wolf pack, they made a futile attempt to escape.
Another shift in the time continuum and the white car emerged from nothingness, passed the abandoned truck, and continued to a distant portal and safety. The occupants high-fived each other.
“Nerds rule,” the driver, chortled.
“Where the hell did they go?” Tony scratched his head.
Marco knelt down then touched the moist earth where the tire tracks ended. “This makes no frikkin’ sense,” he mumbled before looking up at the sky.
“What – what are you lookin’ at?”
“Think about it logically,” Marco said, standing and wiping the dirt off his hands. “If they didn’t go forward, then they had to either go up or down.”
“Logically?” Tony repeated with a snarky tone. “What, so you’re like CSI Spinelli now? Gimme a break.”
“You got a better explanation?” Marco cocked his head and shot Tony an expectant glance.
Tony hunched. “I got no explanation and I don’t care. I say we tell the boss we offed ‘em and call it a night.”
“What about the fingers? You know the boss wants proof. No bodies, no fingers, no proof.”
“Aw crap.”
Marco put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “You think they got some kind of transporter beam or somethin’?”
His head now cupped in his hands, it was all Tony could do not to squeeze his own brains out. “Yeah, we should probably radio Captain Spock and have him beam us up to where the nerds went. Or better yet, we could just ask him to beam down their pinky fingers. Problem solved!” He facepalmed. “Marco, you’re a frikkin’ genius!”
“Yeah?” Marco pulled a small, rectangular device from his jacket pocket. He flipped open its mesh metal lid.
“What the hell is that?” Tony asked.
Marco grinned. “My communicator.” He got a serious look on his face, then spoke into the box. “Two to beam up.”
Instantly two bright shafts of light appeared, enveloping the gangsters. The light got brighter and brighter until it sizzled the skin and flesh off of the two thugs.
Up at the space station, the nerds giggled. The one with the most acne asked, “So, are we gonna beam them up?”
“Are you kidding? What use would we have for two dead guys up here?”
“Where’d they go?” Tony whispered, grasping his pistol tighter.
“I dunno,” Marco breathed, peering warily into the evening mist.
Marco nudged Tony. “Over there!”
Marco’s head indicated a shadowy form about fifty yards away in the darkness.
Tony raised his silenced 9mm. The shadow showed no response to the three abrupt pops.
“You missed!” Marco snarled.
“No way!” Tony hissed.
Marco turned to his left as he saw another shadow in the mist, this one about thirty yards away. Without stopping he raised his own pistol and quickly fired three silenced shots. Again, no response from the shadow.
Tony turned to see the shadow Marco fired on, then spun his head back to the other, only to find it was much closer now…only about ten yards away. It looked like one of the kids from the car.
“Enough of this!” Tony emptied his gun into the form, but with no effect. “Huh?” he said incredulously.
Marco looked to see if Tony had hit his target, and when he turned back, the shadowy form was now only ten feet away from them. It was one of the kids. But he looked different. Bad different. Very bad.
“Tony…?” Marco said, trying not to take his eyes from the form. He heard a groan and a wet thud. He turned to see Tony on the ground. Both halves of Tony.
Marco saw eyes of the figure glow bright red. He felt the searing cold as it cut into him from behind. Then…nothing.
“Hurry!” Andrew said, jumping out of the truck.
“We won’t get in trouble taking the tractor out this late?” Sophie asked.
“I always drive around the fields at night. Come on!”
“Well, it’s hard to believe what you’ve told me.” Sophie laughed.
“Just wait. You’ll see.”
Andrew drove slowly across the field, taking time to enjoy stolen moments with the woman he loved.
“The spot I told you about is ahead.” Andrew whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” Sophie laughed.
“I feel like someone is listening.” Andrew said, taking her hand.
He slowed the tractor as the wheels entered a patch of newly turned earth. Turning off the engine and the lights, Andrew whispered as his lips grazed her ear, “Just wait.”
“You tricked me into coming out here, didn’t you.” Sophie laughed.
The air around them began to whirl. A light pulsed in front of the them with a low hum that caused the tractor to vibrate.
“Keep watching. It happens so quickly you might miss it.” Andrew said.
Sophie was mesmerized. Growing brighter, the light changed, and they could see through a hole.
“It’s a door!” Sophie said with excitement.
The tractor beneath them began to rumble as it moved into the light.
“Andrew, it’s taking us in!”
“Jump, Sophie!” Andrew yelled, unable to rise from his seat.
“I can’t move!” She screamed.
The light pulsed, the air snapped, and the tractor was gone.