Chapter 13

Posted: September 09, 2006 - 06:26:41 pm

"Scott, could I have a few moments of your time?" Lord A.S. asked me, when we were back at his place in England, outside of London.

"Surely," I said, and went off with him.

We walked to another portion of the house, which I had not seen yet. We sat in an interior room that had no windows. There was a tea service set up, as well as coffee for me. Hmm, this smacked of planning.

"Scott, could you fill me in a little on your education and background? I have been curious about you, and have been wondering. Please tell me if this question is out of bounds at all," Lord A.S. said finally.

So I related my life story, short as it was. I told him of my part time job, my high school years, and where I had been living when all this came down. He just sat there listening and sipping his tea. I finished fairly quickly. It was a short story, with not much to tell. Afterwards, we sat in silence and drank our drinks, for a few minutes.

"Didn't you want to go to college? It sounds like your parents could have afforded to send you to college? I can't understand why they didn't," he finally said.

"Oh, they wanted to. I just didn't feel the urge. College just wasn't in the cards then. Sometimes, I wish I had gone when they asked. But no, I don't think I have or had the mental temperament to go and continue my education, at that time. By the time I graduated high school, I was sick and tired of school and the education 'rules and guidelines', and the silly things they were making us do," I said.

"Silly? What were the silly things?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, in order to graduate, we had to perform 'x' number of hours of 'community service' in the area we lived. And we had to have it monitored by someone the school could check with to make sure we did it. I felt like I was a criminal, sentenced to 'community service', for a minor crime of some sort," I said, feeling again the anger this requirement caused me.

"Ah, I see. Yes, I can understand. While I am sure it was not their intent to humiliate you, you were resentful all the same," he said with a nod.

"Yeah, they are supposed to be teaching, but have branched out into all sorts of things they should not be bothering with, if you ask me," I responded.

"Then there were the 'councilors'. If you didn't think the way they thought you should, you were labeled something, and they moved to 'help' you overcome this seriously wrong thought process. If you resisted or thought they were being stupid about it, you found yourself labeled a 'special ed' student. Sometimes you would be taken out of class, and moved to other classes where you could not 'hurt' others. It was stupid!" I had gotten up and was pacing.

"I see. Yes, I can see exactly where this would not inspire the best of experiences for you," Lord A.S. Said.

We talked some more, and he refilled our cups while I talked. The more I talked, the angrier I got at the highhanded methods of my school's treatment of me. Finally, I ran out of things to say, though. After all, it's not like I had a lot of life experiences or anything like that, as yet.

"You're so very young to be so angry and suspicious of those in authority over you. Scott, I am sure they had your best interests at heart. If they did go overboard, as you insist, it was not done with a malicious intent. Until you understand that, you will always be bitter over your experiences in high school.

"As for your ability to do about any job a college educated person can, I doubt that, for several reasons. I do think you're very intelligent. You just have chosen the path of least resistance, and that includes minimalizing yourself in front of others, so as not to draw attention to yourself.

"Certain jobs take specialty training, and I am afraid that a college education, or college training is mandatory. Plus, say you can make a bridge. But you don't have a college or university degree saying you're an engineer. If for some reason this bridge collapses due to unforeseen problems, you and the company that hired you will be held responsible.

To the government and the people suing, a college education means you were trained to think in certain areas. Just coming off the street with no qualifications and saying 'I'll build your bridge', will get you laughed out of that office. You have no official training that can save them, in a court of law. They would be crucified," Lord A.S. told me.

"I know. It's just a big game though. A lot of people are never given a chance or the pay for a job they could do because they don't have half the alphabet soup behind their name. Take the hardware store I worked at. I have watched them, and I could run that place myself, but I was never promoted to a supervisory position. I have watched kids come in and I taught them, for Christ's sake!" I yelled.

"I can feel your frustration. I see your frustration. But Scott, you take the least path, and you resist responsibility. I see you have let your older brother take the leadership road, here. While it is true that I feel he is a real shaker and mover, I'll bet you would be too, if you didn't always defer to others. You have spent your life deferring, and it has contributed to your bitterness, as well," he told me.

I sat there a while thinking of what he said. If I was honest with myself, I could see a lot of what he said was true. I really didn't like to take leadership roles. I hated the spotlight or limelight. I didn't like being singled out. I would have to change this.

About that time there was a knock on the door, and the head servant came in. Just a few years ago he would have been called a butler, but they changed that to something else. He ran the household servants, and kept Lord Avery-Smythe informed of developing situations in the house, phone calls, and messages. Handy guy to have really.

"Your young friend Mr. Wilshire would like your attendance in the main office, m'Lord," the man said, delivering his message and then getting dismissed.

"Well, it looks like things are getting ready to start again. Shall we see what you're brother wants?" he asked me.

"Certainly. Ah, thanks for the talk. While I don't really feel better, I at least have cleared some anger out of me," I said grinning.

We walked back to where Tom had set up the unofficial time travel and alternate world offices. I snorted with amusement at this thought, which earned me curious looks from a couple people.

"I am ready to proceed with phase two. Is everyone ready to go? I will drop you all off at the command facilities first, then transport the 'guests'," Tom said as we entered.

"I am going to beg off this trip. You can fill me in after you get back. I want to call the security in and find out what they have discovered at their latest briefings," Lord A.S. said.

The transfer went off without a hitch. Of the 455 members of the house, only 398 were available for Tom to transfer. Still, that was a lot of people, a lot more than the first group had been.

The house members were also a rowdier lot than the senate had been. The mist had to be used three times, before they understood their plight. It never ceases to amaze me the levels to which a person could deny that which was right in front of them. They could see that they were no longer in Washington D.C. Yet, they blustered and threatened retaliation with the might of the US, unless we instantly surrendered and turned this site over to them, for investigation. Their worldview was sadly distorted.

Tom had been very busy apparently. He had video of deals with lobbyists that if the country knew, would have them up on ethics charges and sentenced very quickly indeed. He played several, but not all the video's he had made. He again appealed to them.

"Our directors want you to get back to what you do best, and leave the dictating to other countries out of the equation. We intercede only because you have taken to chasing a couple of our agents, and because you are traveling down a dangerous slope. We ask you to cease and desist. Those people were assigned to be revealed to you. If the US insists in pursuing them, it will be our reluctant duty to reveal not only what we have shown you here, but also other and worse actions and violations of the law. Things done in secret, hidden away from the people of the US and the world," the video then cut off.

So began the next part of 'Operation Knuckle Sandwich'. It took a several more days to get these people to the same point as the senate, but they finally arrived. For five days they resisted and told us we were liars and that those videos showing tortures and murders were not real. Yet they were real, and the people involved could be found in their own databases, and brought up for questioning if they so desired.

"We are sending you back. Before you go, know this. There will be no more gentle warnings. We will be watching, as we have always watched; but now we have factored in proactive reactions.

"While we agree that the government has the right to defend itself from attack, we also believe the citizens have a right to redress from an abusive government. We will step in on behalf of the citizens, if we see this trend continuing.

"Know that we are watching, and recording, all of your actions. Do not act in any way you do not wish your citizens to know about, because we will reveal every single flaw and illegality you have performed since your election," the tape ended, and Tom transferred the group back to the House floor.

Pandemonium broke out again. The elected officials started a stampede off the floor, and the police, who were only now responding to a panicked summons of just a few seconds ago (for them), wondered what the hell was going on.

I was sitting in the manor again, and sipping a tea. While not a big tea fan, this particular tea was pretty good. I was thinking about my conversation with Lord Avery-Smythe, and how I always let someone else lead, or take the spot light. It was true. I hated being put in a position where I had to make the decision. I think it was time for me to take a little more proactive positioning, myself. Also, I noticed I was getting these blurry little flashes.

I would start thinking about something, and I would then get a little flash, like a light or something, right in front of my eyes. At first I had thought it was an eye problem, then I remembered Tom's description of when he started seeing the past. Was I developing this ability in myself? It was an exciting thought, the ability to see into the past, and maybe even travel in it, myself!

We decided to let a couple days go by, and see what actions and responses both the house and senate would take. So far they were not doing any business.

There was a lot of activity by the FBI, NSA, and CIA, as cell phone pictures and videos were examined for clues as to location. Well, good luck to them, I say. They would have a hard time tracking down a location when it was off in an alternate world to which they had no access.

I noticed that the flashes started coming to me when I would think of a specific reaction to a given situation. Suppose I did this action, in response to that situation? Sometimes I would get a flash. The flashes started lasting longer. The headaches that started up, were fierce. These things I associated with learning an ability.

I told Tom about it. He was excited, but sent me to his alternate world for a medical check up. I came back normal, but with a higher enzyme count in that section of my brain that was associated with mental abilities of the paranormal type. Both Tom and I were very excited over this. It meant something was happening, and was triggering an ability.

Tom started coaching me on how to concentrate and look at the flashes. I started to see things a little more clearly. He moved us to the alternate world, and slightly into the past to give us all the time we wanted, to train.

Days passed, and turned into weeks for us. I was getting pictures, but they didn't make sense, really. Both Tom and I tried to figure it out. We were both confused with my describing the flashes to him. Then one day, he sat up with a funny expression on his face.

"Scott," he began slowly. " I don't think your seeing the past, at all. I think your seeing the future!" he finished with excitement.

I stared at him. Oh, boy. Now what did that mean?