Episode LXII

“It doesn’t make sense, none of it! The casts, the fake smoke, the vial, and the girl—it doesn’t make sense.” Straining to see in the fog, Luke saw nothing, and was surprised to hear the loud pop of pistol fire. “Bullets!” The sound sent him back several years, bringing to mind the sound of sirens, shouts, and a gun...

Two more shots shook him awake and made him reach for his ears as the sound reverberated in the close quarters of the hall. Luke tried to shift his weight about trying to get a better view of the fighting, but with his casts he found it extremely difficult to rotate his legs. Man, I wonder how the Tin Man did it—forget a heart, I would have been content with some oil and a way to pick myself up! Luke chuckled at the thought of the Tin Man slipping on a banana peel and falling on his back, unable to pick himself up because of his sheer bulkiness.

“Luke! C’mon, let’s go!” Sarah’s commanding presence brought him back to his present situation, along with that recently familiar sense of confusion. Sarah lifted him from the ground rather skillfully, conjuring a funny little picture of Dorothy trying to raise the Tin Man from his precarious situation. “Give me your hand!” Not waiting for him to respond, she jerked his arm around her shoulder and started walking, half-carrying, half-pushing Luke down the hall. Something was different with the way she was acting now—it seemed her patience was gone, replaced with a sense of determination that would have matched Evel Knievel before trying to jump the Grand Canyon.

“Concentrate! You’re not lame, so stop acting like it!”

“I can’t help it; we’re going too fast!”

“No, we’re going too slow, now pick it up!”

Luke struggled with his bulky feet, certain that they had been replaced with concrete blocks. “What’s going on? I heard gunfire!”

“Someone,” Sarah paused for a moment, letting the alarms fill the silence for her, “someone went too far.”

Too far? What’s that supposed to mean?? Before he had a chance to ask, Luke’s right leg kicked into something, sending him flying forward, this time going unaided by Sarah as his arm flew from around her neck. As he braced for impact, Luke noticed that the ground rushing toward him was not the metallic blue of the hallway, but green.

Thud. The impact hurt, but not as badly as Luke had expected. Clinging to the ground, he mentally took inventory of all his teeth, making sure his jarring landing hadn’t made any permanent impressions. “Someone should put tape on those steps to...” Luke paused as he felt the ground beneath him give unusually well as he tried to lift himself. Lifting his torso Luke examined the ground beneath him. “That’s funny, this ground is camouflage, no wonder I didn’t see it.” He began to chuckle uneasily, trying to lift himself from his awkward position. That’s when he felt it: warmth. The ground was warm! “Ahhyehh, oh goodness!” Luke screamed in surprise and horror at the realization that his soft landing was not carpet, but bodies.

As she hoisted him to his feet again, Sarah shouted something about hurrying, but she remained motionless as Luke looked at the bodies strewn about. “They’re not,” he nodded at the body he now stood by, “are they?”

“Dead? No.” Sarah’s eyes locked on one body as she stared distractedly, “not most of them.”

* * *

”Reception to Dr. Gordon. Dr. Gordon please call three five zero. Call three five zero.”

“Oh, where’s that danged phone. Keep an eye on her, she’s moving faster than normal, and the upper floors aren’t ready yet. In fact, send another team in to keep her occupied!”

“Doctor, she’s entering a patient’s room—incredible! It seems she’s bringing the patient with her!”

“She what??! Let me see that tracking screen! This is unbelievable; she’s never done this before. Sometimes I’m worried that she’ll hurt the patients, but take one with her? Keep her covered, see if you can’t catch a glimpse of them on one of the remaining security cameras.”

“What are you planning Miss Marshall?” Dr. Gordon glanced around distractedly, as if looking for something; suddenly remembering the phone, he rushed to his desk covered in charts and electronic equipment, sweeping half of it onto the floor in search of the receiver. I really ought to keep this thing neater. One of these days there’ll be an emergency— it would be a grievous mistake to try to dial 911 on a motherboard.

Seeing the telephone, Dr. Gordon grabbed the receiver and started pounding numbers. “Three-two-seven. No, what is that extension again? Ummm, three-nine-seven...no! No! No! Dang it! Where’s that list of extensions?” The man pushed more equipment off his desk, hoping to somehow reveal a small slip of paper, but only exacerbating the disorder.

“Doctor, that extra team is reaching the floor now.”

“Dang it! I’m missing the most interesting development in years, does anyone know Miss Christianson’s extension??!”

One of the guards by the elevator door piped up, “Three-five-zero!”

Gordon gave half a smile as he glanced at the young man, “I figured you would know.”

Punching the appropriate numbers Dr. Gordon raised the receiver to his ear just as shouts of panic and tranq-fire broke out over the command speaker. “What’s going on?! Someone tell me what the heck is going on up there!”

“I’m not sure sir, all the tracking signals are too close together. Let me see, it seems she’s left the patient in the hall and has engaged the team.”

”Hello? Yes Miss Christianson, what is it? I’m a little busy down here right now with the current exercise.”

“Doctor, the body stats on three of the men show signs of tranqs hitting their system—now four!”

The command speaker continued to broadcast the general lashing that his men were receiving...

Gordon covered the receiver and hissed loudly, “She’s obviously got them cornered, so tell them to pull out, now!”

Gordon returned distractedly to his phone conversation.

”Yes, yes—wait! Did you say twenty? Blast! We won’t be done down here for another forty, minimum!” Dr. Gordon took a deep breath trying to calm himself and sort out the facts in his head of these two critically important projects. “Okay, I need you to do something for me—something very important.” Gordon paused until Susan had her notepad ready. “At the time of my appointment with Mr. Underhill, go to my computer. Open the folder on my desktop entitled Cirith Ungol. Run the program named Operation Sharkey. After that leave the computer, and in fact you can go home early. Did you understand all of that?”

Pop. The sound made Dr. Gordon freeze. That sound— it sounded like. “Who the heck authorized the use of firearms!?!” The room was silent as Dr. Gordon glared at his command crew. Dr. Gordon realized he was still on the phone just as two more shots came over the speaker “Man down! I repeat we have a AHH! My leg!”

The whole room sat in silence, waiting for anything from the other end of the command speaker, but greeted only by the constant whine of the alarm. “Sir, Parker’s stats just redlined.”

Gordon glanced down at the phone in his hand in stunned silence. How did this happen, what about the weapons checks? Once again realizing he was still on the phone, the doctor mumbled a quick goodbye and reached to set the receiver back on its hook. A frightened scream coming over the command speaker startled Gordon from his daze, bringing him back to the gravity of his current situation. “What was that? Someone tell me who that was!”

“The computer indicates it came from Lyle’s radio, but he’s been unconscious for several minutes now. Someone must have depressed the call button.”

The command speaker continued to broadcast some quiet mumbling in the background, but it was inaudible over the wail of the alarms.

“Clear the teams homing signals from the computer, I want to be able to see where Miss Marshall’s at!”

“No need sir, Marshall and her guest just entered the elevator.”

“A camera! We’ve got a camera in that elevator, I want it on this screen, now!”

Dr. Gordon paused with a huff as the technician patched through to the elevator camera. Looking at the surveillance screen Gordon stared at Sarah Marshall’s face. “Boy does she look ticked.” A look of panic swept across his face as he examined the face of her patient. “Mr. Legs, is it. How could she have... No, she doesn’t, he was just... Dang it! What is she up to?” As if drawn by his shout, Sarah’s eyes panned upward, spying the camera and locking gaze with Doctor Gordon through the viewscreen. Suddenly her hand came up and the screen turned to static as her stolen firearm obliterated the small surveillance camera.

“Shoot! Can’t she at least let me have my cameras during this exercise?”

“Sir, you did tell her to act like this was the real thing this time—not to pull punches.”

“Yes, but she knows it’s still an exercise. Who do we have on the next floor?”

“Well sir, we’ve got two—wait! Wait! Something’s not right!”

“What! What is it?”

“Well sir, as far as I can tell, she’s not going to the next floor.”

“What do you mean she’s not going to the next floor?”

“I mean sir, I think, I think she’s coming down here.”

* * *

“DOWN! Are you crazy?! We’ve got to get out of here! We’ve—”

“QUIET!”

Luke’s ears winced as she shouted him down, adding to the ringing his ears had gotten from her firing that pistol in the elevator.

“Now you listen to me. I’ve been here a long time, and I know what Gordon is like. He won’t let us just waltz out of here—you can’t just take the express elevator to the top, it doesn’t work that way. Besides, he and I need to have a little chat.”

Luke watched Sarah in stunned silence as she looked around thinking. Glancing upward, a look of deviousness came over her face and she proceeded to grab the taser from beneath her jumpsuit. Luke stared in wonder as she disassembled the thing piece by piece, removing a simple-looking silicon board from the center of the weapon and tossing the rest of the taser aside. “What are you doing?”

“Do you get squeamish around blood?”

Luke chuckled, “I’m a skater. It’s in my line of work.”

“Good.” With that Sarah dug the corner of the board into her forehead, pressing it into her skin with hardly a flinch, her eyes set with a fierce determination that hid any knowledge of pain.

“What are you doing?” Luke gushed. “What is that going to—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Sarah reached up with her gun, placing the butt of it against her forehead, and pushed toward the cut she had made with the edge of the board, carefully, but firmly, as though a skilled surgeon.

To Luke’s amazement a small pill-like chip gradually emerged from the gash, followed by a fair amount of blood, which Sarah only half-successfully slowed by pressing the cut closed with the butt of her gun. Dropping the circuit board, Sarah clutched the chip tightly in her hand, until she felt that her forehead had quit bleeding as much.

“Why did you—”

“Quiet, just. Just quiet, okay?”

“Sorry.”

“Hold out your hand.”

“What, I—”

“Now!”

As Luke held out his hand, Sarah dropped the chip quickly into his palm and clenched his fist with her hand.

“Hold this. Whatever you do, don’t let go until I tell you to, understand?”

“Umm, ok.”

“I mean it, I’ve got a plan, but you have to hold that until I tell you that you can let go!”

* * *

“What do you mean her heart skipped a beat?”

“Just that. The computer showed her going under some serious head trauma, then her heart stopped... then it started again.”

“I have had her in this lab for nine years. Nine years! Never has her heart come close to stopping from a little head trauma.”

“This was not a little head trauma; this was serious damage to her forehead!”

“How does she get serious damage to her forehead in an elevator you idiot? It only goes up and down! Your computer is obviously going haywire, along with everything else in this experiment!”

Gordon continued shouting, this time barking orders at the guards standing by the emergency staircase, “You! Get over here, you help those two cover the elevator. She is not to get in here, understand!”

The two men rushed around the central command pit and stood in front of the elevator, forming a half-circle with the other two men.

“Where’s she at now?”

“Four floors up. Three floors...two...one! Wait!! She’s stopped the elevator at the floor above us, and she’s just sitting there—both of them are just sitting in the elevator.”

Gordon paused anxiously, hoping silently she would not continue downward, knowing she would be very upset, and knowing how impossible it was to deal with her when she was like this...Gordon ran to his desk, opened the top drawer and pulled out a small pistol, hoping it wouldn’t be necessary... ‘What is she doing dang it!’

“Ok! Wait, ok the elevator’s moving again—down. She’s here.”

Gordon heard the ding of the elevator and glanced up to see Luke sitting silently in the elevator, just as Sarah kicked open the door from the emergency staircase.

Pop Pop. Two of the guards sank to the ground as tranquilizer darts struck them squarely in the back.

Pop Pop. The other two guards spun around just in time to receive one each in the chest, and join the other two in a lump on the floor.

“What’s going on!”

Gordon watched as his technician slumped in his chair, leaving his question unanswered except by the sound of an empty tranq gun hitting the floor.

The doctor spun to see Sarah standing in the door holding a very real firearm, and glaring at him with a look that made him wish he could sink to the floor unconscious like his men.

“Dang it Sarah! What are you doing here, the exercise dictated you were suppose to go up to the next level!

“I’m sick of your exercises. In fact, I’m sick of being here—of being your guinea pig!”

“Alright, alright. Calm down, you know you’re not supposed to kill anyone.”

Sarah hissed in anger, “They weren’t supposed to use real bullets!!”

“You’re right, you’re right They were out of line—I didn’t tell them to But now you are out of line.”

“Oh yes, I’m very out of line!” Sarah smiled evilly, “What’s more; I’m getting out of here!”

Gordon shook his head, “You know you won’t last very long.”

“I’m willing to take my chances!”

“You know you need this, without it you don’t stand a chance.” As he spoke Gordon slowly pulled a vial, filled with green liquid from his coat pocket.

“I already have everything I need, and you and, and that,” she said, gesturing toward the vial, “are not needed anymore!”

“Oh...? Are you so sure? You know what happens when you—”

With that Sarah fired. Again and again she pointed the weapon and pulled the trigger, destroying screens, speakers, medical equipment, as much as she could until her gun was empty.

“Now I’m leaving, and if I so much as see another guard... So-help-me I will kill them. Then I’ll come back down here and kill you! Now let me go! You hear me?! Let! Me! Go!”

“Ok, ok, no one’s keeping you here. Leave when you want, but know that if you ever want to come back, you’re welcome here. You’re welcome home.”

Tears fell from Sarah’s eyes, as a look of hate covered her face, “This is NOT MY HOME!!”

* * *

Luke had watched all of this from the doorway of the elevator, and, seeing the glint of a pistol in the doctor’s hand, realized that neither of them intended to let the other live. He won’t be able to kill her first, she’s too fast. But if she kills him I may never discover why I have these casts!

Glancing around, Luke noticed a small, open-sided cart that could be used to transport boxes or equipment, or maybe even—lumber. That’s it! Just like the ones at Home Depot that we used to roll around back in the back corner by the Sheetrock! Crawling quickly over to it, Luke grabbed the cart and slid onto it like a belly board. Using his hands off the sides and front, Luke directed himself toward the command pit and the Doctor, and propelled himself with his hands as hard as possible. The Loon was back at it!

Gordon turned just in time to see the cart flying toward him off the edge of platform above the command pit.

Panicking, Gordon raised his hands, one with the vial, the other with the gun, and cried something inaudible right before the cart struck him square in the chest causing him to drop the gun and knocking him to the ground unconscious.

Luke cringed as he felt a pain in his left arm right before landing on the ground, rolling over top the doctor and into a nearby computer terminal. Groggily he glanced down to see a tranq dart lodged in his shoulder, and turned his eyes to the dart gun in Sarah’s hands. Shifting his weight off his right leg, Luke pressed his hand to his right thigh and blacked out.

* * *

“Luke! Luke! We’re in Westwood! I need to know where your house is. Luke!”

Luke felt a jerk as the vehicle stuttered to a stop. Scenes from his recent abduction ran through his head as he recognized the familiar sound of a van. Shaking his head wearily, Luke opened his eyes to see a red light—a traffic light! Thank goodness, it was just a dream!

“Luke! C’mon, I know you’re awake, I need directions here!”

Luke turned his head and opened his eyes to see a familiar face. Where do I know that face?.

“Hey, talk to me here—that’s an order!”

Suddenly it clicked. Sarah! Luke sat up and looked around. He was in the passenger seat of a van that looked just like the one he had been taken to the lab in.

“Hey! C’mon, do I turn right or left here?”

Luke looked up to see the familiar T-square intersection of Westwood Main and Pine. “Uhh, left.”

Luke was further awakened by the sound of honking and looked back, noticing the large white pickup that had just been cut off. “Hey, watch what you’re doing, you’re going to get us killed!”

“Hey! It’s not my fault I can’t drive; I don’t exactly get out much!” A joyous smile crept across Sarah’s face. “But I’m out!”

“Right.”

“No really, its—”

“NO! I MEAN TURN!”

Luke closed his eyes as he heard tires squeal.

“It’s ok, we’re good. Now, where to?”

The directions to Luke’s house took them several more minutes of chaotic driving accompanied by several apologies for the wayward tranquilizer dart, and when they arrived Luke was just as happy to be stopped on solid ground as he was to see the simple tree-laden yard of his mom’s house. Sarah hopped out, helping Luke steady himself as he climbed down out of the van. Once he was down she watched as he slowly waddled toward his front door. “See, you’re getting it!”

Luke turned slowly and looked at her inquisitively, “So aren’t you coming in?”

“No, I have some, some things to do. But before you go, can you give me a hug?”

Luke was shocked. This same girl that tried to break his hand, accidentally hit him with a tranq dart, wanted a hug?

“Uhh, sure.”

Sarah approached and reached her arms around him in a simple embrace. Just as Luke started to believe it was possible that she really did just want a hug, Sarah grabbed his right hand and started twisting it, shouting at him angrily, “Where is it?! What did you do with it?!”

Luke nearly sobbed from the pain, “With what? What are you talking about?”

“The vial—what did you do with it?”

Luke was shocked. She was after the vial after all. Painfully he reached across under his robe and pulled the vial from his right cast. “I, I just switched sides, that’s all.”

Sarah released his hand and grabbed the vial. Rushing to the van she muttered something that sounded like either an excuse or an apology and hopped in. Staring after her in confusion, Luke watched as she swung the van out quickly, narrowly missing an old Mustang parked on the side of the road. As the van squealed off into the distance, Luke reached his arm back to his right cast to reveal the other vial he had tucked there.

Why was she so desperate for this? What makes it so important to her? What did that doctor guy say? She ‘needed’ it??

“I better call Aunt Abby, she’s a chemist. I bet she’d know something about what this is.”

Episode LVIII

Luke's ears woke up before the rest of him. As he lay there subconsciously, he heard a quiet whirring that he couldn't quite place. it sounds familiar; where have I heard that before?

As he became more conscious, he began to analyze the sound, noticing that it would drop in pitch quickly for a short period of time, then return to its original pitch.

Next he tried to recall where he was. His mind distractedly searched his clouded memory: the hospital... The man with the mustache, he had drugged me... Kidnapped me! Luke tried to shout, to scream for help, but his lips refused to move, still under the power of the anesthetic.

Luke calmed himself. What next... what happened next... the vehicle... the struggle... the vast deserted wasteland... What did they call it...? The sand pit... what did that mean?

He felt a tingling in his leg as he heard the whirring drop in pitch again. Good, I'm starting to get sensation back, means I should be able to...

Luke froze as he began to recognize the sound: A drill! It sounded like a giant dentist's drill! What the...? The teen struggled in confusion and disgust. Struggling against the drugs, he forced open his eyes only to wish he hadn't. There before him was the mustached man, wearing a white lab coat which was now splattered with red. Luke gurgled in horror as he realized the sound was not a drill, but a small saw: the red on the coat... that's blood! That's... my...

Luke tried to scream with all his might, but all he heard was a small gurgle, which was barely recognizable as coming from his own throat. The doctor's masked face looked up in shock as he realized his patient was now awake. He reached for a syringe, but the teen was unconscious before the drugs hit his system.

Luke awoke gradually to flashing lights, smoke, and alarms. What's going on?? As he regained motor control, Luke turned his head about, searching for some clue, some sign that would magically inform him of where he was and what was happening: a post-op room, filled with several pieces of large equipment some of which were attached to smaller medical tools, and none of which he recognized... a fire alarm, flashing... a fire?!

Luke sat up completely, feeling the last bit of anesthetic retreat before a wave of adrenaline. Preparing to jump out of the bed, Luke yanked the blanket off of his legs, uncovering a very unexpected sight: his legs, the broken and unbroken were in large cast-like braces from the hip down, with a single joint for his knees: "What the...?" Even though he'd regained feeling to every other part of his body several minutes ago, his legs were still basically sensationless, except for a numb pain in front along the shins, and in back along the calf.

Luke gingerly swung his legs until they toppled off the edge of the bed, reluctantly responding to his commands. Gradually, he lowered himself off the bed, holding onto it carefully for balance and support. Well, I can stand, that's a comfort at least. He glanced down at the casts on his legs no wonder, my legs could be jello and I'd still be able to stand, with as big as these things are.

Luke tried to take a step forward, but, forgetting that his weak legs had to lift the weight of the cast as well as himself, he stumbled forward, tripping over his weighty foot. The teen fell to his knees, feeling a surprising shock of pain shoot up from his legs on the impact: Well, at least I know they're still there...

Pulling on the bed, Luke forcefully lifted himself to his feet, and was about to try again when he saw a figure in the doorway a few feet away. Not again, I'm getting sick of being drugged! Luke reached for a sharp instrument lying nearby, still unsure of what it was he was grabbing, but determined to defend himself. But before he could even touch his sole defense, his hand was clasped in a grip that made his fingers go limp with pain. He trembled with absolute dread, waiting for the familiar needle, but was surprised instead to hear a quiet voice behind him: "You won't be needing that..." It was a woman's voice, no, a girl's voice.

Luke twisted his torso and glanced over his shoulder to look into the face of a teenage girl, not much younger than himself, but with an expression that was far more mature than himself. Luke breathed in relief as she released his hand and smiled, this time clasping his hand in a handshake.

"The name's Sarah!"

"Luke..." he stumbled.

Suddenly the smile disappeared from her face, and was again replaced by that look of painful knowledge. "We gotta go, no telling how long before they get up here..."

She turned and began to walk out, as if she assumed Luke was right behind her. Luke hobbled around to face the door, "Wait!"

Sarah spun, staring at him in disbelief, "What is it?!"

Luke stammered, surprised at the impatient tone, "I uh, I..." gesturing to his legs, "I can't really walk all that well..."

The girl nodded her head knowingly and returned to his side. Though she was probably younger than him, he noticed that she was at least a half an inch taller than him. Reaching under his arms she began to stabilize him, reminding him of those war films where wounded soldiers were aided off the battlefield. "Now walk!" Though firm, the command seemed reassuring and empowering.

Luke took a step forward, again tripping over his bulky cast. This time, however, the girl kept him from falling, catching his weight so completely he wondered at how she could do it. Luke took another step, this time much slower, balancing his weight toward the girl as he lifted his heavy boot... "Bend the knee!" Luke bent his knee and found it much easier to get his leg off the ground, not at all like he would expect with a normal cast. Stepping forward his successfully placed his foot, and transferred his weight to begin again.

They continued slowly like this, slightly increasing their pace as Luke began to get the hang of it, and as Sarah's impatience began to show through. Luke glanced at her: this was not a normal impatience as she tried to convey... this was a fearful impatience, like a person seeing their only chance for survival slip away... Or more of, limp away...

Luke stumbled again, this time Sarah lifted his frame and kicked his foot into position, "Pay attention!"

As they worked their way into the hall, Luke wanted to look around, but instead committed himself to his feet. Sarah guided him down the hall, oblivious of the smoke and noise, obviously intent upon her goal. Suddenly she stopped him. "What is it?" He shouted, trying to be heard above the din of the alarms.

"Quiet!" She hissed, glancing about in frustration. Suddenly she swung him sideways, setting him harshly against the wall.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I said quiet!" Looking down at him she reached into her ill-fitting jumpsuit and pulled out two small pistols. This was the first time he noticed what she was wearing: a blue-black jumpsuit that looked about two sizes two big, with a yellow 'GL' embroidered on the right shoulder.

Realizing that he himself was wearing only a hospital gown, Luke quickly positioned himself into as modest a seating position as possible, given his bulky casts.

"Here!" Luke looked up just in time to see one of the small pistols land in his lap. Luke quickly grabbed the gun in wonder, realizing that it was not a pistol as he expected, but rather a tranquilizer gun. "Where'd you get this," he hissed in wonder.

"The same place I got the jumpsuit..." Luke looked up just in time to see her disappear into the mist, pulling something else out of her costume.


That's funny... Luke took a deep breath to confirm his suspicion: this isn't smoke... it's steam of some sort, like a smoke machine would make!

Suddenly, Luke heard the ding of an elevator, and strained to see what he hoped was his escape route. So that's where she was go... Luke heard shouts of confusion accompanied by the sound of bodies striking the ground and the blue flick of a taser.

Luke glanced around, looking for something he could use to lift himself off the ground. That was when he noticed it: tucked into the side of his left cast was a small syringe. Grabbing the container, he noticed that it was filled with a green liquid, something that was in no way biological, and likely not even medicinal. Luke thought back to when he first awoke: I don't remember seeing it when I looked at my casts...; the failed walking attempt... the figure in the door... the painful grip on the wrist...

There... that must be it... she must have slipped it into my cast when I was distracted about my hand...

Luke examined the gun: five shots, should be enough... for what?... for them?... for her?...

Episode LII

"Good evening Mr. Lake!" the nurse said as she entered the room. She almost sang it, she seemed so happy.

Luke was confused...why isn't she fuming about the stinkbomb I put in my lunch dishes... "Umm, good evening nurse... everything's going ok, I hope."

He noticed a slight scowl cross her face, but she seemed to quickly humor herself with a personal joke and replied, "Oh, well, there was some uproar about that gift you left us with your afternoon meal, but now everything is just fine..."

Luke was appalled. Gift! That was the best I could come up with, it took me a lot of time to convince my sister to smuggle that thing in here...maybe the nurses ARE trying to poison me, maybe that's why she's so cheerful...
"Oh, about that... I..um... I'm sorry... uh..."

"Oh, it's ok, let's just put that behind us... would you like to eat your pudding now?"

"umm..ya..uh, I'm not really hungry right now, but.. uh...if you would just set that here..."

"Oh, ok, but you really should try it, it's our specialty around here, made from scratch!"

Luke wondered how chocolate pudding could be made from scratch... but decided not to press the point, lest it really be poisoned and she decided to force feed it to him. "Uh... well, I'll see what I can do to get something down... in a little bit..."

"Ok!" The nurse tidied up a bit and began heading out of the room cheerfully.

Luke thought fast, I have to know why she's so happy!
"Nurse, uh... you seem unusually... cheerful, this evening..."
Ok, that was stupid, but I guess it might get me somewhere.

The nurse stopped in the doorway and said with a mischievous smile, "It's hard not to be when a problem leaves you..."

That really made Luke wonder...he glanced at the pudding and was sure he saw something like little pieces of pill, but on further investigation he decided were probably just dandruff from the nurse's hair... still, he wasn't going to risk it, and put the pudding back onto the nightstand by his bed.

Luke didn't have much time to wonder at the nurse's attitude, within a couple of minutes a doctor walked in, a man with medium-length salt and pepper hair, with a large salt and pepper mustache to match. He was not particularly tall, though would not have seemed short if he walked upright. As it was his stature was thin and slow, portraying a weakness that didn't quite match what his age looked to be. The doctor shuffled up Luke's bed and began unhooking the various pieces of monitoring equipment around Luke, leaving only the I.V. of various antibiotics that was in Lukes foot.

"Hey, um, doc. How's my leg... I mean, I feel ok, am I allowed to walk on it? Can I call my mom now?"

At the mention of his mother, the man stiffened, then relaxed and slowly spoke, "Ahh yes, your parents... your parents are actually here, now. We have been discussing your treatment, and they feel it necessary to transfer you to... to a special facility that specializes in breaks of your sort."

This made Luke nervous. Not so much about his injury, but as to his treatment. This man seemed uneasy for some reason, and he'd mentioned parents as if he had two of them, though it'd only been he, his sister, and his mother for years, ever since his dad had run out on them... In addition, his mom normally worked at this time of night.

Luke thought carefully, then he got an idea, something he'd seen on some old WWII comedy show he'd seen on tv late one night,
"Oh goood, are my brother and sister here, too??"

The man paused, thinking, then smiled and looked up, "Yes. Yes they're here, too, they're waiting in the lobby while your parents fill out the paperwork."

Now Luke knew something was wrong... he didn't have a brother...'What do I do now? Am I being kidnapped? What's going on?'

Unfortunately the doctor must have caught wind that he had said something wrong from Luke's reaction, because he quickly reached into his coat and pulled out a small injection needle. Grabbing Luke's I.V. the man quickly injected the needle's contents into the I.V.

Luke tried to get himself up and away... out, anywhere... but before he even got the blankets off his lap, he noticed all feeling leaving his legs...then his waist, then...nothing.

**********

Luke came-to very gradually. At first he thought the numb pulsing in his body was just the drugs wearing off, but as he awoke he began to realize that he was in a moving vehicle, and the pulsing was that of the vehicle bouncing on a gravel road.

He very much wanted to scream, struggle, anything to fight against the feeling of helplessness caused by being kidnapped, but he realized the drugs had not worn off, and he would stand no chance whatsoever of escape while still disoriented and not in full control of his faculties.

Gradually, Luke opened his eyes, hoping that there wasn't someone standing over him with a knife or some other frightning situation that, until now, had seemed completely absurd ideas. As he glanced about he noticed various medical instruments and tools.
Of course, what better way to take me out of a hospital than in an ambulance?

Soon Luke felt himself slightly pulled to one side, as the ambulance turned into some parking lot or driveway, and then felt a pain in his leg as the slowing of the vehicle caused his weight to shift.
Shoot! I completely forgot about my leg... how in the heck am I supposed to escape?

In the back of his mind he was aware of the two men in front, and that the two of them had been talking the whole time, but only now did he really start listening to what they were saying:

"Well, we're here, best get that kid out of the back before he wakes up, you know how the doctor is about the security of this lab."

"Ya, ya, personally I think he's too paranoid. I mean really, it's not like anybody we're carting in there is ever going to be able to tell someone about the place anyway."

"True, but you'll have to bring it up with him, not me. Besides, it makes it easier to carrying them if they're not fighting.

Luke closed his eyes as he heard the back of the vehicle opening, and fell limp as he felt himself dragged onto a stretcher. Luke risked a peek once on his transport, and realized he was being pushed by two men, one in front and one behind. Without thinking, lest he should wimp out, Luke aimed for the face of one man with his good leg, and punched behind him with both hands in what an observer might have mistaken for a glorified stretch.

Luke smiled to himself as he felt his foot (and long, poorly-groomed toenails) connect with the chin of the one man, and grimaced in pity as his hands met with soft tissue and he heard the muffled groan of the man behind him.

Quickly, or as quickly as a guy with a broken leg can, Luke sat up and began exiting his stretcher, only then did he look around. In every direction was nothing but desert. In three of the directions all he saw were flat plains of cracked ground, and in the other was a range of dry, red mountains.

Before he could react, Luke felt a pain in his neck, and recognized the familiar paralyzing effect of the drugs... and all he caught as he began to black out was "hnh, welcome to the sand pit, kid."

Episode LI

Luke ended up in a small hospital in Westwood. The doctors weren't saying much, and he only hoped no news was good news, but after a while it started to drive him crazy. Man I must be really paranoid or something He thought to himself.
He sat in the sterile small room the westwood hospital, wishing a doctor would come talk to him even though he dreaded that every person that walked towards his room, might be the doctor bringing him bad news.

Most of the shows on the TV weren't worth watching and that was only when he could get the remote working. He avoided skateboarding and other sport shows, since it depressed him even more. The only alternative were soap operas and baking shows.
Being visited a couple short times by his sister made him happy but, was certainly not enough to keep him from the edge, where he dropped off into endless boredom.

The doctors finally came and told him what he really didn't want to know after what seemed like an eternity. His only recourse from any depression came from his appetite for something to do, anything to keep him from going comatose.

Utilizing a plastic spoon and a pea he managed to set off another patients alarm. He was hardly able to explain his red face from holding in the laughter to the nurse, who nearly insisted that he use the bedpan.
Every day he got better at finding something a little more mischievous and fun to do. So far, he'd kept his pranks small enough or untracable enough that the nurses hadn't blamed him for too much.
Soon, though,
soon they would find the best prank he'd ever played in his life. This one would be too hard to hide from and he would enjoy every minute of their surprise, even if it made them feel like poisoning his cold jiggly chocolate he got every evening at precisely 6:07 (and usually about 45 seconds).
He tried to hide a slightly evil, but mischievous grin as a nurse burst into his room with his jello.

Episode XLVII

Every time Luke thought about Kira or Brad, he got angry and upset. So, in order to stay sane until Saturday, he avoided both of them, and poured all his energy into skateboarding. The upcoming competition was to have three events. The first two involved skating a prescribed routine: Everyone did the same tricks in the same order, and points were awarded based on how well each trick was executed. More difficult tricks were worth more points. The third was a “best trick” contest: Each skater did one trick, the best he could land, and the highest scoring trick won.

Luke wasn’t worried about the first two events. None of the tricks were too hard for him, and if he practiced both routines enough times before Saturday, he was confident he could pull them off flawlessly. The hard part was deciding what to do for the third event. It was tempting to try and learn something really hard; if he could land a heelflip McTwist, it would be a guaranteed win. Then again, if he were that good, he would have a decent chance of winning at the next X Games. A compromise, then. He knew he couldn’t learn to do a McTwist before Saturday; he couldn’t get enough height to spin the full 540 degrees. But he had managed to do a backflip and land fakie, so maybe if he worked at it he could learn to do a 180 inverted aerial. Maybe even a kickflip 180 inverted aerial. That would be truly awesome.

Late Thursday morning found Luke practicing on the halfpipe as usual. In order to avoid a confrontation, he had waited to go to the skate park until after Brad left for lunch. After practicing the two preset routines several times, he was once again trying to land a 180. He had managed to make the full twist several times, but had not yet landed on his board without falling. He resisted the urge to become frustrated and kept at it, confident that he would succeed if he kept trying. This was how he had learned all his tricks; not so much innate skill as relentless determination.

The key thing was not to be afraid of getting hurt. Luke’s friends called him the Loon, partly because he skated without any helmet or pads – even without a shirt, more often than not, despite his propensity as a redhead to sunburn – but mostly because he would try any jump for the first time with as much confidence as if he’d been doing it for years. It was as if he didn’t know how much it was going to hurt when he fell. He suffered a lot of scrapes and bruises this way, but he also learned a lot of tricks. Luke’s description of his own technique sounded a lot like the Nike slogan: “I don’t think about it; I just do it.”

Nearly two hours and countless falls later, the Loon’s craziness paid off: He landed three 180’s in a row, to the delight of the local kids who were watching. Not too soon, either; the competition was in just two days. Now at least he had something to show, but it might not be better than whatever Brad was planning. What he needed to do was spice it up a little by adding a kickflip. No problem – just two tricks he knew how to do, both at the same time. Enough thinking; time to do it. He rode back and forth on the halfpipe a couple of times to pick up speed, then launched into the inverted aerial the same as before. To complete the trick, he had to rotate 90 degrees while upside-down, then another 90 after turning right-side up but before landing. But this time, while still in the air, he had to kick his board so that it also spun 360 degrees on an axis running lengthwise. He could do this while ollying over flat ground easily, but doing it while completing a jump he’d barely learned was more complicated.

As was typical for his first time trying a trick, he failed to land it. Not so typical was his failure to get up afterwards. The boys who were watching ran up and asked if he was alright, then started to panic when he didn’t answer. One of them was already running to go call 911 when he opened his eyes and said weakly, “Get…help…my leg…”