Chapter 4 - Respect And Vengeance
The sun had just begun to set, leaving a beautiful orange collection of clouds to mark the passing of the day. But such beauty was lost upon the two figures standing on the roof of the Sears Tower. One of them had a fire in her heart that burned brighter than a thousand suns and she was determined to locate the cause of her fury.
"Report!" she demanded of her subordinate.
The other looked up from her scanning device. "I have been unable to locate any evidence of the virus on this planet."
The commander turned and grabbed the scanner. "Impossible!" She made several adjustments. "Mei-Wan should still have several hours before the virus kills her."
"I understand. However, the fact remains that I cannot find its signature."
The commander handed the scanning unit back, her anger waning. "Some sort of McCall trick, no doubt." She stared out at the cityscape once again. "His ability to thwart justice continues unabated."
She spun about toward her aide. "Perhaps there is a way to confound his criminal plans." She removed a small cylindrical object from her belt. "This is the hypo I used to inject Mei-Wan with the virus. With any luck, it should have a few of her skin cells attached. Analyze them for her genetic pattern."
The subordinate took the item and smiled. "I should then be able to locate her."
***
Having spent the afternoon learning what they could about the twenty-first century from the noisy, glowing box in their room, Jack and Mei-Wan decided to go through the ever growing collection of assorted items in their bags. They had them spread out over both beds while Hank took a shower.
"I never would have imagined I'd have clothing from three different centuries to keep track of," Mei-Wan said as she packed the dress she'd worn in 1874.
Jack smiled as he folded his own nineteenth century clothing. "I thought you looked good in that dress."
Mei-Wan stared at him with a frown. "Trust me, it looked better than it felt."
A metal object in Mei-Wan's collection caught Jack's eye. "What the hell is that?"
"What?" She glanced down at the objects spread out in front of her. She realized what Jack was pointing at and took it in her hand. "It's the G'voda weapon I..." She looked down at it for several seconds. "What I used to destroy the machine with Zachary's personality."
Jack nodded and watched her as she put the weapon in the same bag as her 1874 dress. "You haven't said much about what happened in Zachary's ship."
Mei-Wan turned to him. "I know."
"Maybe I should keep that with me."
"Do you really think it's a good idea to be carrying alien technology around with you on twenty-first century Earth?"
"I'd feel better doing that than leaving it here."
She smiled at him. "You get too used to having a weapon on your belt?"
He shook his head and went back to his own bed-full of objects. "Carrying a gun was part of that society, Mei. I only used it when I had to."
"That's what I'm afraid of if you carry the G'voda weapon."
"What?" he asked.
"That you'll find yourself in a situation where you think you need to use it."
"If I do, then what's wrong with..." He stopped himself and smiled. "Okay. You're right. Maybe I have gotten too used to solving my problems with a gun."
Mei-Wan finished her packing and looked at Jack. "Are you hungry?"
Jack nodded. "I suppose we ought to find some food."
Hank stepped out of the shower. His beard was gone, but he still sported a mustache, though now more trimmed than it had been before. "That felt good."
Jack walked over to Hank and regarded his new look. "You almost look human again."
"I've looked worse," Hank said with a chuckle.
"Mei and I are thinking of picking up some food. Anything in particular you're interested in?" Jack asked him.
"No," Hank said as he relaxed on the bed. "Just something hot."
"Hank, please..." Mei-Wan started. "Don't go out while we're gone. We have to be careful to make as few changes as we can while we're here."
Settling into the bed, he frowned. "Do I look like I'm going anywhere?"
Mei-Wan smiled. "Sorry."
"We'll probably be an hour or so," Jack started to leave.
Hank watched Jack and Mei-Wan go out the door. The moment it latched behind them, he sat up and grinned.
***
Thomas Bruening, Tommy to his friends, stood watching people walk past the Audi his parents had given him for his last birthday. He'd tried to convince them a Corvette was more what he needed, but all they'd done was given him their usual upper-class noise about insurance rates and accident statistics. What did they know about cars? Or better yet, about his life?
Probably about as much as they knew about the baggy pants, Bulls jersey, two hundred dollar Nikes, gold chains, and backwards Cubbies cap he liked to wear every day. Nothing.
His friends, Eddie, Chase, and Jamal, strutted out of Harry's Liquors, each carrying a plain brown paper sack. The night was looking up.
The four of them piled into Tommy's Audi, and with a touch of the power button to the Bose system he'd had installed the day before, they were off cruising the streets of Chicago.
Eddie passed him the bottle of Jack. Tommy took a big gulp and fought off the burning in throat. "I needed that," he told the others.
But none of them could hear him over the rumble from the speakers which made everything they passed vibrate to the thumping beat of the CD Tommy had in the player.
Three, six, nine, damn your fine
Move it till you sock it to me one more time
Get low, get low, get low, get low, get low
To the window, to the wall
Till the sweat drop down my balls
All these bitches crawl!
Loud music and a bottle of Jack always made Tommy hungry. It was time to turn the corner and get their asses to White Castle.
***
Mei-Wan inhaled the steam coming out of the bags. "Are you sure this is food?"
Jack smiled as they walked across the fast food joint's parking lot. "Considering the line we had to wait through, I'd assume so."
Mei-Wan frowned. "I think if you put up a sign saying 'the absolute best' in really tall letters the people of this century would stand in long lines for just about anything."
"Now, Mei. We're supposed to respect all cultures."
"Consider that an archaeologist's scientific opinion," she said with a grin.
Jack caught the gleam of headlights out of the corner of his eye. "Look out!" he yelled as he pulled Mei-Wan and himself out of the path of the silver Audi peeling into the parking lot. It missed them by only inches as it screeched to a stop in a nearby parking space.
"You okay?" Jack asked her.
Mei-Wan nodded as she tried to catch her breath. "After all we've been through... to think we'd get killed by an automobile."
Four young men, three white and one black, popped out of the car; the music from inside filled the air.
Gal shake up yuh booty, when yuh shake it up yuh get mi rudey
Wouldn't mind fi see yuh get nudey
Miss cutie cutie, love di way yuh wine and how yuh movey
Dem gal deh can wine trust me...
The four from the car stared at the two people they'd nearly hit.
"Ya ever open your eyes, asshole?!" Tommy stormed toward Jack and Mei-Wan.
Jack quickly handed Mei-Wan the sack of sandwiches he'd been carrying.
"Jack, we can't..."
Tommy got up in Jack's face. "I'm talking to you, shithead!"
Jack eyes narrowed. "I believe it was you who almost killed us, young man."
Tommy looked back at his friends who were laughing. "Can you believe this guy?"
"I think he's got an attitude problem, Tommy," Chase said.
Eddie, however, had his eyes focused on something far nicer to look at than Jack. "But he's got him a hot lookin' bitch."
The other three slowly turned their attention to Mei-Wan.
"Damn," Tommy blurted out, looking Mei-Wan up and down. "I changed my mind." He took a step toward her. "I'm in a mood to eat Chinese tonight."
The other three chortled behind Tommy as he turned back to Jack. "How 'bout you go eat them sliders and we'll take the bitch for a little ride?"
Jack smirked. "That's not going to happen."
Tommy reached under his jersey and pulled out a .38, its dark metal gleaming against the pale skin of the hand that grasped it. "It's not like you got any say."
"Do you really think I'm going to allow you to harm her?" Jack asked, doing his best to appear unconcerned with the weapon pointed at his face.
"In case you haven't figured it out yet, dumbass; I'm the one holding the gun."
"True enough, but is it going to get you what you really want?"
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"Your gun... you're using it to get something. I can't believe it's just to have your way with a woman." He took a step closer to Tommy. "What are you really after?"
All sense of humor left Tommy as he tried to think past the alcohol and adrenaline rush clouding his mind. "Respect."
"Respect? You think pointing a gun at someone and threatening their life gains you any respect?"
Tommy forced a grin. "I sure got yours."
"No you don't. And even if you kill me, you won't have my respect. The thing about respect is, that you have to give it before you get it." He glanced down at the gun. "All that thing gets you is fear." Jack looked directly into Tommy's eyes. "When someone's afraid of you, they don't respect you. Neither do any of your friends. All they see is an uncontrollable animal."
"You calling me an animal, man?!" Tommy asked as his face twisted with rage.
"What else strikes fear in the eyes of its victims. A man?" He shook his head. "A man earns respect by treating others the way he'd want to be treated."
Tommy laughed. "Some religious crap? You a preacher, man?"
"No. Consider it enlightened self interest. You treat me with respect and I treat you with respect. But you strike fear into people, and eventually someone is going to put you down like a mad dog. And then what do you have? Just people thinking, 'good riddance.'"
"Cap him, Tommy!" Chase called out.
Tommy hesitated and growled at Jack, "I gotta show 'em I don't take no shit from no one, especially not some dick like you."
"Then you are their slave. Is that what you want?" Jack asked.
Tommy's jaw tightened. "I know I want you dead."
In that moment, Jack acted. In a flurry of movement, Jack's twenty-fourth century training took advantage of Tommy's drunken state, forcefully changing everything. When he stopped, it was Jack who held the gun at Tommy's temple.
"That's just not going to happen," Jack said as Tommy's friends moved back to put enough space between them and the man who now held the gun.
"Jack..."
He smiled. "I know, Mei. I know." He looked down at Tommy who trembled at what had happened to him and what he was afraid might come next. "All this produces in you is fear, isn't it?"
"Please... don't kill me, man!" Tommy pleaded.
"I'm not going to kill you… because I have respect for what you might become. You have all the possibilities this world has to offer in you, but you have to decide which ones you'll be available for. It's up to you."
Jack and Mei-Wan backed away from the group until they were on the other side of the parking lot. Jack slid the small revolver into his pants pocket.
"Let's get the hell out here," he said as he and Mei-Wan sprinted around a corner.
***
Jack and Mei-Wan stepped into their motel room.
"It's not like he gave me much of a choice, Mei."
A smirk came to her face. "Weren't you the one lecturing him about choices?"
"Considering I had a gun in my face, I think we came out of it fairly well." He watched Mei-Wan set the sacks of burgers and fries on the table. "How about we eat?"
"You're just trying to avoid what I'm saying," she said, pulling boxes out of one of the sacks.
"No, I understand completely that what happened might change the timeline," he told her as he sat down at the table. "But out of the options of us getting killed, me killing him, or me taking the gun and us walking away, I think the one I chose did the least damage."
Mei-Wan stared at the box of french fries in her hands. "We shouldn't go out any more. It's too risky."
Jack took a bite from one of the small burgers and looked around the room. "Hey, Hank!" he called out.
Nothing.
Jack got up and walked over to the bathroom door. It stood ajar. "Hank?"
He looked in, but Hank wasn't there. "Damn it."
"What?" Mei-Wan asked as Jack came back to the table.
"You're not going to like this."
Mei-Wan's eyes widened as she looked about the room. "He's gone?"
Jack nodded and sat back at the table.
Mei-Wan stewed for a few seconds. "And you ask me why I don’t trust him?"
"I'm sure he's got a good explanation." Jack took another bite.
"For what?" she asked. "Leaving or lying to my face?"
The door flew open, catching both of them off guard. Hank stepped in, full of excitement. "Jack! Come and see this!"
"Where have you been?" Jack asked getting up from his seat.
"Come on!" Hank waved him toward the door.
Mei-Wan dropped the sandwich she had just picked up and followed Jack and Hank out the door.
"What do you think?" Hank asked pointing at a black car in the parking space across from their door.
"It's an automobile," Jack said flatly.
"It's a Pontiac Grand Am!" Hank explained, irritated Jack wasn't sharing his interest.
Mei-Wan stared at the car. "And how did you acquire that?"
"Hank..." Jack shook his head.
"I saw this commercial on the television earlier today and I just had to try it."
"Oh god..." Mei-Wan said, shaking her head.
"What?" Hank said, walking up to her. "What?"
She folded her arms across her chest. "I'm glad you've adapted so well to the consumerism of the culture."
Hank's eyes narrowed.
"Can you even drive that thing?" Jack asked.
"It took a little getting use to, but I got the hang of it," Hank told him with a grin. "And when I'm out on the open highway..."
"Jack," Mei-Wan interrupted. "All this will do is draw attention to us. He has to take it back."
"I'm sorry, Hank, but..." Jack said.
Hank turned to his friend. "What the hell's going on here? Why are we taking orders from her?"
"Because as the only scientist available, I'm listening to Mei's suggestions concerning our activity here." Jack looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping on them. "We are after all, nearly four hundred years in the past."
Hank's mouth twisted to keep him from saying what he wanted to say. Instead he grumbled, "Can I at least wait until morning?"
"I don't think that would be a good idea."
Hank exhaled and started back to the Pontiac.
"Wait, Hank," Mei-Wan called out to him. She turned to Jack. "Considering we already have the vehicle, it might be wise to use it to get away from the city."
"Why?" Jack asked. "You just told us how we need to get rid of the thing."
"I know, but there are too many people here," she said. "It would be better if we were someplace which provided us fewer opportunities to change the timeline."
"How far?"
"Far enough to avoid having guns thrust in our face every time we go out for food."
Jack turned back to Hank. "You know how to drive that thing?"
Hank beamed. "I got it back here, didn't I?"
"Mei and I'll get our things. You go settle our bill with the motel."
Hank gave a quick nod and was off to the manager's office.
Inside the room, Mei-Wan had already assembled several of their bags.
"You were riding him a bit hard," Jack stated as he entered.
"If a decision had been made that getting a vehicle was necessary to our getting home, that's one thing," Mei-Wan said, picking up the bags. "This was Hank's lack of ethical sensibilities playing out in front of us."
"I think that's enough, Mei."
She stepped up to him. "You can either deal with this problem now, or let it blow up into something we'll all get stuck paying the consequences for."
"I think you're out of line, Lieutenant," he said, holding his ground.
Mei-Wan looked down a moment. "I'm not talking to you as a fellow officer, Jack. I... I'm talking to you as a friend who can see where Hank's behavior is headed."
"Just a friend?"
She looked at him with pained eyes. "Jack, I didn't want to..."
Before Mei-Wan could finish her answer, the front wall of the room shattered into thousands of pieces, sending them both to the floor for cover.
