Eyes on the World
Copyright April, 2016 John D. Boyden
"The Ladder to Where" series
Book Two
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All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead in any real or imagined world is purely coincidental. Historical personages, places, and events are referenced, used, and changed as needed for the purposes of the story.
Acknowledgments
I dedicate my fifth book's publication to my wife, Melanie, four grown kids, my grandchildren, friends who have provided critiques on my writing, and our newest dog, Butterscotch, who keeps me company throughout my writing, editing, and formatting.
Thank you all for your love and support
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
About the Author
Other Titles
Connect with John D. Boyden
Please download volume one. It is free.In volume one you will discover how Jake's comfortable life was disrupted, why both Jake and William are on the run and who their enemies are.
Chapter 1
HOME TEAM
Black skies, pouring rain. Wind swirling. William Allison and Jake Granger huddled beside their shot up rental, a sky-blue Renault.
"Damn. Another ambush. Someone's got our number, Jake."
"And a hell of lot more than that. I'd be happier if they would just phone." Jake snarled and he bandaged his own bleeding leg with shaking hands.
"Yeah.They could have phoned. It woudda saved ammo." William caught an attacker running between carswith two bullets. "Who knew we would be here?"
"Only Center. They got my message yesterday."
"We've got a mole?" William nailed another attacker with a single snap-shot.
"Looks like it."
"Can we get outta here? This car ain't gonna run."
"I hope so." I made the call. Now we wait and try to survive until help arrives." Jake slid over to William on his knees and slapped a bandage on a bloody right shoulder. The back side was worse. Jake covered it with a second bandage. They weren't going down easy. Control would pay. Williamsmiled through the pain and offered Jake a sardonic "Oh gee, ouch" for his efforts to patch the wound. William took a breath, looked around for his next target. At least ten more attackers were out there in the dark.
"Where is the next stop our schedule?
"Some place not on our schedule."
"Sounds good to me. Where are we headed?"
Then they heard the missile screeching high above them.
With a boom and a thud, Jake hit the floor. It woke him up. "That was too real." He considered the dream. Was it prescience, déjà vu, or a dream. He wasn't sure. He settled for dream. It was easier to handle.
The cool floor helped Jake decide it was time to get up.That dream would bother and nag at him for a long time. The reality of theday permitted the two of them to enjoy a second attack free day in their ranch style safe house. Except for the dreams Jake kept having. Every night brought a few more dreams. Dreams were not as bad as the real experiences. He thought the dreams were almost a rest from their recent life among the hunted. Almost.
Jake's hands shook as he reached for a cigarette. The nicotine calmed him. Whether it really did or not, He didn't care. He puffed the stick and figured his death would come from other sources. Irrepressible humor sent his mind wandering over dozens of serious and not so serious issues while he smoked.
Their new home included a roomy front living room with cutting edge tech sprawling throughout the room and house. Two desktops rested in front of large monitors and a full wall screen. Jake and William reveled in the firm, yet comfortable, dark blue cloth covered couch which also faced the large screen set on the wall. The redwood end tables and functional lamps all worked well. Their high tech, family style setting was comfortable enough.
Feeling exposed kept them tense. Being observed constantly, did that to a body. Stress and urgency surrounded them. They were stuck in place. Events and disclosures threw them each time a new one came along. It was only a matter of time until one or both of the buddies went off that emotional edge. Fight or Flight. They wanted to do both. They would.
The unknown constantly beckoned, classhing with the known. They had conversations with their own Center director, Jonas, and a shocking interview from another Center claiming it was from fifty years in the future. Ishmael, says he is trying to help them. Other people in that future Center were not shown. Ismael says he's trying to prevent catastrophe and wants to use Center 2 and two guys buried in the middle of a mountain to do it.
Neither Jake or William talked about mission specifics once they'd found out everything was recorded. It wasn't too hard. They didn't know much. Most of their attention was on paperwork. It wasn't what William wanted to do, but it was all they had.
Each of their two bedrooms were fully stocked with new clothes and bed linens, fresh from one of the Center's storehouses. Center was dedicated to providing their agents the best supplies and accommodations available. Center expected a lot from their employees and wanted to ensure they felt valued. Jake was a new employee, learning on the job. William, an old hand.
They each had their own bathroom and shower. Jake had the room on the right, down the hall from thekitchen. William, the room on the left, across from Jake's. The kitchen was large, modern, and had a huge refrigerator/freezer combination. It was still nearly filled with food. Three days of continuous eating didn't deplete it. Both did their best to constantly graze when they weren't working on the data analysis. Eating helped block the stress. Besides, both loved eating. William exercised. Jake didn't.
Jake kept hold of the thought of food to come while he took a shower. As he enjoyed the hot stream of water, he considered the false doors of their abode and the only one he knew worked.
The back door, at the end of the hall, was locked. Was it really was a door? The front door was locked too. No keys were provided. They didn't know if it was a real door, either. They were told to leave the doors alone. They did use a third inside door tucked neatly next to the built in electric fireplace. Inside that door was a fully stocked laundry room. The electronic brain for the house was on the wall. Jake used the instruction book to adjust the controls of their new home. William ignored the controls, unless Jake had a question. He'd used safe house brains before. The controls were basic to Center safe houses. William had traveled through many safe houses over the past years.
Jake entered the silent kitchen, walked to the computer, booted it up, and printed a few documents. He shut it down, and went back to bed. It was too early for breakfast. He didn't want to cook, either. He hoped another hour of sleep might help.
The rooms were dark and quiet. All the computer screens black and waiting. The computers off. Jake thought of the their conversation from the day before, as he crawled back in bed and plumped his pillow.
"Poor Jonas"Jake said to William, rubbing his temple.
"That could be said of us too," wryly commented William. "You got another headache?"
"I do. They come and go. This is the fifth one since we relocated here."
"You gonna be OK?"
"Probably. What do you think of this future Center cr
aziness?"
"If it isn't a con, the future is going to try to tell us what to do."
"Yes, I suppose so. If they tell us how to do it,we've entered a brave new world!"
"I hope your brave new world bears no resemblance to Huxley's version."
"Oh, it does." Jake said with a laugh. "The basics are in place.Aldous did write his book back in 1931, even though he set it for more than five hundred years in our future. The world is different than he thought it would be."
"Yeah, Jake. Different, but not different. Keep in mind, the more things change, the more they stay the same. We do have some of the technology Huxley feared. And we are dealing with it as badly as he expected. Governments are controlling education, and our news choices are screwier as they attempt to evade or exert control over our understanding of the world. The lies, misreads, and constant flow of errors aren't helping. And don't forget advertising. Never forget that demon. The insidious conditioning of populations around the world is growing. It is affecting us daily too, even with Center fighting it."
"Yes, there are plenty of problems to follow. More than any person can comprehend. I have to believe the future offers hope. Our unreachable star is out there. We will have to work to get there. If I'm wrong, well, IF I'm wrong, we just stepped off into the abyss."
"Another abyss? I thought we were falling into the same old abyss we both know and love," William chuckled. His eyes hardened. "Every one of our actions is a reaction. Every place we go is dictated by some one else. Hell, every word we say is recorded by these two centers. This has got to change.We have to change the dynamics. We have to take the fight to our foes."
"True. And we will. Our situation is about to change. There is hope there too, William. I believe it. We've gotta hang onto the hope." He rubbed his face and head with both hands. I've gotta hang on to hope! Right now that's almost all that we have."
"Yeah. I hate waiting too. We need more than hope. We need action."
Jake agreed, pointing out, "We do have a little more than hope, with our own thought patterns and mixed perceptions. Fortunately thought patterns aren't conditioned in this generation, yet. They will be, if things continue in the direction they are moving.That conditioning is the critical one in the dangerous pattern Huxley predicted. I'd say we have about twenty years before government control wins."
"Ever the optimist, huh. Screw hope. Take the battle to the enemy. That's my position." He paused and asked "Do ya think the future will tell us if our future has changed?"
"No bets on that. We've already seen how the slightest verbal mentions from the future about our own future affects the probability tree. I don't think they can tell us what, where, or give specifics. Optimism is my weapon of choice. We may be monitored, but no one has told us what we can or cannot say to each other. Our individual actions are still fluid, depending on the needs we see within any single situation. There are a few countries in the world dictating both words and actions. It is a frightful, almost universal goal of government. It is a temptation for any government. Everything is turned into symbols and political correctness, proper behavior, or a crime when that happens."
"Ain't that the truth, Jake. Pessimism is my counter to your Pollyanna attitude. I'm concerned the future will try to tell us what we have to do. And how we have to do it. I refuse to be controlled. Informed and suggested is ok. Controlled is unacceptable. So what's next?"
"Same old, same old, big buddy. We have to analyze the patterns and the risks while we weigh our understanding of the world's needs and the future. Our actions depend on our understanding. The results of this study will help determine our next steps. I do wish we had the full picture, though. Maybe we will get more from Ishmael, but I don't expect it. Whatever he gives us will have to be general."
Jake returned to expressing his thoughts on Huxley. "We only have to look around our world." He laughed at William's here we go again expression. "Yeah," Jake added, "I've said that more than once. This is an daily battle that has gone on as long as the human race has existed. Our thoughts are influenced by what we see, hear, and the events we experience, -also those we hear about. Our own patterns of thought influence us in ways we don't understand. Yet. Those thoughts aren't controlled by others. They are influenced. Or can be. What we have to do is clear to me. We have to confront our biggest problems, and give each one our best shot. We are not capable of seeing everything and we fail to understand what little we are seeing."
William snorted. "Yeah, nothing new there. How can it get better? The way I see it is we plow forward. We will never see it all. We can't even figure out where and how we are mostly influenced and manipulated by others. Sometimes it is clear, most of the time, not. We can only use our own understanding of what's happening to move forward. We always want and need more information. Then it becomes too much to process. I think-"
"And patterns!" Jake interrupted. "We can see more through patterns. It is not a perfect method, mind you, but patterns do help us. It is our data that is the key for the mathematical formula. We may have time to analyze all of that within our current assignment, and we just might figure out one or two ways to deal with some, maybe even, most of those dangerous control behaviors. We just have to refine that key as far as possible. Think of this as a working vacation. After all, we haven't had to move in a couple of days, or go anywhere. That is the one unexpected luxury we have, after last week. Personally, I'm glad of the rest. And, given our new resources from the future, we should get more notice before the next attack."
"Should. Uh huh. Right Jake. I'll believe that when it happens. Until then, I think we use what we have. Ok, little buddy?"
"Ok, big buddy. Let's get to analyzing."
"You know I hate that, right?"
"Yup. Guns and bombs are your thing. You're just a simple man."
Jake Granger aka Joaquin Jose Maria Granger Aguirre and William "The Tech" Allison were encouraged to think they are mostly safe. Or at least safer. That would change over the next days.
THE OPPOSITION
"Sigrid, is your team ready to go after your requested two targets?"
"Yes," He said glowering. "Our two newly added team members are at minimal efficiency."
"It doesn't sound like you are ready. Do you recommend we proceed with an alternate team?"
"No dammit. I want to get those two myself. Have you found them?"
"Very well. You have been approved. We have not located them yet. We do have a recruited asset in place. We finally have that long awaited access to Center. We expect our first significant communication in one week or less."
"That will be impressive. Congratulations on cracking Center. That should give me another week of training. I will have my team ready for when I have a location to attack."
"Understood. Are you positioned for an alternate mission?"
"If needed." Sigrid was cautious. "What do you have in mind?"
"We have six teams for you to coordinate. We are going to take over another opposition group. We are looking at two days prep and one day to complete the mission. The other teams will consolidateand take care of the usual clean up."
"Sounds doable. Give me the details."