No Future Christmas (5 page)

Shauna walked through a metal detector-type machine.
It blew
out of puff of air, beeped and said in a mechanical voice, “You may proceed.”

Mike followed with the same result.
“What’s that machine
checking?”

“For anything that can be used to carry out stolen
groceries.
There’s a food shortage.
The United States has over five hundred
million people alone.
Farmers are ordered to grow what they’re told by the
Fearsome Foursome and if they grow something not on their approved list,
they’re jailed and fined.”

“Jesus.
What a world.
I think I like mine better.”

“I know I like yours better.
That’s why I was there.
I
wanted to test my latest software and chose my favorite time period.
Although,
things are a little slow there.
And the smog from your combustion engines
irritates me.”

“Yeah.
Me too.” Shauna grabbed some frozen vegetables, dried
beans, whole wheat bread and coffee.
She looked at the fresh vegetables but
found them picked over and spoiled.
She gasped with delight at a fully intact
cantaloupe and hugged it to her chest.

“Pretty excited over a melon, aren’t you?” Mike smiled.

“This is a rare find, Forrester, don’t you ever forget it
while you’re here.” They finished shopping and checked out.
Shauna showed her
ID card and swiped it along a machine.
The products were all put on a table at
the same time and the machine beeped.
The items were listed and totaled.

“Debit, one hundred dollars, Shauna Wentworth,” the machine
said.

Mike jumped when he heard that.
“Won’t the Global Guardians
find you from that purchase?”

“No.
It’s a pre-paid card.
No way to trace it.”

Mike breathed a sigh of relief.
“Good.
Let’s get out of
here.”

* * * * *

They finished a meal of frozen vegetables, warmed to
perfection, beans, bread and cantaloupe.
Spare but healthy.
Mike leaned back in
his chair and said, “Now tell me about your parents.”

Shauna told him how they ran a rebel underground digital
newspaper.
They’d been printing more and more about the corruptness of the four
world CEOs.
She choked up when she came to the part about finding out they’d
been taken away and were presumed dead.
“That’s it.
It’s been years and I’ve
missed them every day.
Now I get this note.” She leaned across the kitchen
table.
“I’ve got to find them, Mike.
Have to.
If they’re in trouble I need to
save them.”

“What makes you think you can find them, let alone save
them?
Seems your CEOs are a pretty powerful bunch.
How do you plan to outrun
the Global Guardians?”

“I don’t know.
I just know I have to find them.”

“It’ll be like looking for a needle in a haystack, Shauna.”

“If it were your parents, your needle, wouldn’t you look for
them?”

Mike thought about his parents.
His mother had died long
ago.
His father had basically abandoned him and his brother when they were
children.

“Mike?”

“No.
I wouldn’t look for my parents.”

Chapter Three

“Why not?” Shauna asked.

“It’s a long story.” Mike leaned forward and put his hands
on the table.
“Let me help you find your parents.”

“Why would you want to help?”

Mike shook his head.
He knew a stubborn woman when he saw
one and this one had brains to go along with her stubbornness.
“Look.
I’m here.
I wouldn’t mind seeing more of this new world.
I like you, Shauna.
I want to
help.”

She stared at him for a long moment.
“If you think this’ll
get you sex you’re wrong.”

Mike burst out laughing.
He hadn’t found a woman so quick in
a long time.
“It’s not for sex, though I wouldn’t mind it.” He put out his
hand, palm up.
“Let me see that note again.”

Shauna reached into her pocket and pulled out the crumpled
piece of paper.
By the time she’d handed it over to Mike it’d smoothed out its
own wrinkles.
“Here.”

“What kind of material is this?
It’s like the napkins I’ve
used.” Mike was intrigued with the material.
It had a firmness to it.
He took
out his pen and wrote on the back of it.
The ink showed clearly, no smudges.

“It’s some composite material.
I don’t know how it’s made,
no one does.
The Corporations own the patents and have never given out the
formula.
We love it.
It’s reusable, washable, almost indestructible.
We have
different variations that are used for napkins, for everything we used to use
paper for.
It’s a wonder material.”

Mike fingered the piece of material, amazed.
“What do you
call it?”

“Paper.” Shauna’s eyes lit with amusement.
“Really.
No one
ever named it anything else.”

Mike laughed as he reread the note.
“What’s the hiding place
only you would know?”

Shauna’s forehead crinkled.
She frowned and drummed her
fingers on the kitchen table making a ringing sound.

“Nice.”

“What?”

“The sound you’re tapping out on the table.”

“Oh.
I don’t even notice it anymore.
I grew up with that
sound.
To me it just means I’m thinking.” She stopped tapping her fingers and
looked up at the ceiling.
“Where would they hide something that only I would
know?
Wouldn’t George know about it too?”

“George?”

“My brother.
The news reporter.”

“You two were close growing up?” Mike stood and paced the
two-room apartment.
He liked the view, it stretched all the way to the Pacific
Ocean.
A yellow skycar flew by in a blur and Mike started, still amazed at the
changes he saw.
Rainbow colored skycars flittered all over the sky at all
altitudes.
It looked like a beautiful choreographed ballet.
He shook his head.

“Yes, very.
We shared everything.
George is younger by two
years and I took care of him when Mom and Dad were working.” Shauna stood up,
clearing the table of the dinner dishes.
“Where would they hide something?”

Mike came over and helped, picking up dirty napkins and
glasses.
Well, not glass glasses, new-type plastic ones.
Very cool.
“Where do
you want these?”

Distracted, Shauna stood at the sink staring into space.
“Huh?
Oh…here in the washer.”

“Everything?
Even the napkins?”

“Yes.
The napkins and utensils need to be sanitized.
That’s
one of the great things about this century.
Everything is washable, renewable
or biodegradable.”

“Finally.” He put everything in a jumble in the washer and
watched Shauna.

“Washer, on.
Light wash.” She turned away and wandered the
apartment.
“Let’s see.
Where would they hide something for me to find?
I’m sure
they felt rushed to dispose of incriminating disks.
Mom was probably shredding
stuff like crazy.
She and Dad had just bought an industrial shredder.
She loved
it.
It was her new toy.
Dad would’ve egged her on, telling her to hurry.”

“What was your favorite thing when you were a child?
A toy?
A book?”

“My dog.
I had a Springer Spaniel named Rover.” Mike
laughed.
“Don’t laugh.
From the minute we got him as a puppy he would rove the
building, go to other apartments.
By the time I’d find him, I’d be frantic and
he’d be snoring on someone’s couch.
Everyone in the building knew and loved
him.”

“I’m sure he was a wonderful pet.
I love dogs.
But how would
your parents hide something with him?
Was he cremated?
Do you still have his
ashes somewhere?”

“He’s buried in the dog cemetery.
It’s a huge place.
People
wanted to be able to visit their pets and after much pressure, the Corporations
gave in and put pet cemeteries all over the major cities.
No, he’d be no help
now.” Shauna paced, then flopped on the couch.
She let out a long sigh and lay
her head on the back cushion closing her eyes.

Mike sat next to her and looked his fill.
Shauna was a
stunning woman.
Her perfectly arched walnut eyebrows framed gorgeous aqua eyes.
Her nose was straight and strong.
Her lips were luscious.
The bottom lip full
and pouty.
Her smile lit up her face and when she laughed tingles raced over
his skin.
She glowed with health and vitality and Mike knew he could seriously
fall for her.

He kicked up his feet and put them on a clear coffee table.
The only thing that marred the surface was a dark blue box.
Mike picked it up
and opened it.
A hologram popped out.
Mike leaned forward and studied the eight
by ten picture.
A smiling family hugged one another, obviously very happy.
“When was this picture taken?”

Shauna barely opened her eyes.
“On my birthday, five years
ago.
We were all together, a rarity and we made the most of it.”

“Mike touched a black button on the box and the picture
changed.
“Wow.
This is great.” Now he saw a picture of Shauna’s brother George
with a bunch of friends.
Tall, dark-haired, very good-looking.
It looked like
they were in a foreign country.
He flipped through the collection and said, “No
way to inscribe the date and put in little comments about the trip, huh?
I’d
miss that.
We can write on the back of our pictures to remind us where and when
they were taken.”

“That’s it!
That’s where Mom and Dad hid the message!”
Shauna jumped up.
“Let’s go.
We’ve got to get back to New York.” She grabbed a
pen and left George a thank-you for the shelter placing it with a pre-paid
credit card on the kitchen table.
She wanted him to know they were paying for
the clothes they took.
Then she grabbed Mike’s hand and pulled him from the
apartment saying, “Door, lock 5601.” They ran down the hallway, grabbed an
elevator and rushed to the ground level.

“Why are we going back to New York?
Where’s the note
hidden?”

“You’ll see.”

* * * * *

This time he didn’t throw up.
The skycar flew at warp speed,
or as Shauna called it mach speed.
They reached New York in an hour.
“Won’t the
Global Guardians be looking for us?”

“Of course.
But this time we’ll be prepared.” Shauna
returned the skycar to the rental agency parking lot.
“We’ll rent skycars with
prepaid money cards.
They’re untraceable.”

“But what about our appearances?
Our picture is flashed all
over the world.” Mike thought about the holograms he’d seen.
Fantastic images
that were crystal clear.
“Do we disguise ourselves?”

“No.” Shauna grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the
parking structure.

Mike’s gut clenched as a jolt of fire raced up his arms.
For
a minute he felt weak but then a powerful warmth coursed through him.
God, if
this woman’s touch electrified him and her kisses weakened him what would
making love with her be like?
Mike’s knees trembled at the thought and he’d
never felt a weak moment in his life before this.
He suddenly craved her,
wanted her, needed her.

“We will be protected by the citizens here.
Just like in Los
Angeles.
You’ll be amazed at the underground network that exists.”

“Okay then.
Let’s go and get your note from your hiding
place.” Mike stayed by Shauna’s side as they hurried to her apartment.
His eyes
scanned the street.
At least the Guardians were easy to spot in their lime
green outfits.
“What happens if the Global Guardians are waiting for us there?”

She grabbed her little black device and pressed the back of
it.
A three by five hologram picture popped up with the face of a pretty blonde
young woman.
“Jennifer?
Don’t say anything yet.
Yes, it’s me, I’ve blocked my
hologram.
Anyone been by my apartment today?” Shauna nodded her head
vigorously.
“Good.
I’m almost there.
Let me know if anyone pops up.
Thanks.”
Shauna pressed the back of the device again.
“My apartment manager.
She’s
definitely on our side.”

They hurried into the building and to Shauna’s apartment.
Once inside Shauna went to one of the recessed cubbyholes and reached behind an
electronic gadget.
She pressed a slight indentation in the wall and a panel
slid open.
“Yes!” She pulled out an old-fashioned picture frame.

“May I see?” Mike asked.
Shauna handed him the picture and
he stared at a beautiful liver and white Springer Spaniel.
“Hi, Rover.
How are
you?” Mike murmured to the picture.

“My Dad found this old frame at the estate of an old woman
who’d just died.
It was so unusual—as you see we don’t have pictures
anymore—that he paid an exorbitant price for it.
Mom was angry that he’d spent
over a month’s salary on it but he treasured it.
Somehow he found a guy with an
old-fashioned camera.
He snapped the picture of Rover and gave it to me for
Christmas.
How I loved that dog and loved this picture.” Shauna took it from
his hands and rubbed Rover’s nose.
“I miss you buddy.” She turned the frame
over and pulled off the backing.
A piece of “paper” fell to the floor.

Mike reached down and picked it up.
The material unfolded in
his hands.
He handed it to Shauna who read it out loud.

Sweetheart.
If you get this note we were taken by the
Global Guardians and escaped.
Our newspaper has touched a chord inside the four
Corporations.
We’ve found a conspiracy that will eclipse anything seen in the
last fifty years.
Honey, we love you and are safe in our hiding place.
Others
have helped us and will help you too.
Find a way to get to the World Starbucks
on Fifth Avenue.
Talk to Simon.
He’ll know what you should do next.
BE VERY
CAREFUL.
This conspiracy will topple the CEOs and reverberate throughout the
world.

We love you very much,

Mom and Dad

“Oh, God.” Shauna sank to the floor, tears streaming down
her face.
“How can we find them?
When was this note written?
Are they still
safe?
Oh, why did it take four years for me to find this?”

Mike dropped to his knees and pulled Shauna to him.
“They’re
safe or they wouldn’t have sent the computer message.
We’ll find them.
I’m
here.” He rocked her in his arms feeling her shoulders shake and her tears soak
his shirt.
“Shauna, listen to me.
I’m a good policeman.
I’m a good
investigator, not that you have needed me much.
I’m a very good protector.
Let’s get to that Starbucks and see what happens.” He ran his hands up and down
her back soothing and comforting her.