The Tree on the Dike - chapter 11

"The Tree on the Dike"  [13+]

Chapter 11

         The strange figure touched Susan's shoulder and the whole world became a blaze of color. Objects warped in and out of her vision and the environment changed around her. Suddenly, she was standing in the parking lot of the new power plant, looking at the front doors. Only two vehicles were parked near the building. The light blue compact looked new except for the mud on the tires. The red pickup truck showed signs of rust and was covered in mud.

         Susan's body seemed to be weightless. She couldn't feel the ground under her feet even though they seemed to be touching it. She felt two hands grab her by the shoulders and push her toward the main doors of the building. Looking up, she saw a faceless hood hanging over her. She tried to get loose, but she couldn't find the strength she needed. The glass doors loomed in front of her, getting closer and closer. She began to panic as her captor showed no sign of stopping. Throwing her arms in front of her face, Susan prepared for impact. She hit the glass and passed through unharmed.

         Dropping her arms, Susan tried to look back at the door. All she saw was the cloak of the one who carried her. What happened? She looked ahead and saw a guard in a blue uniform walk by. The man paid no attention to the girl floating down the hall. I must have died, and now the specter has captured my spirit, thought Susan.

         "You are not dead," said her captor. "However, I have borrowed your spirit." The pair continued down a maze of corridors.

         "What for?"

         "I have something to show you. You are the only one who can help me."

         "What! You want me to help you after what you put me through?" She tried to break free one more time. "Let me go!"

         "No, we must hurry." The figure pushed Susan through some polished steel doors into an elevator shaft.

         "What do you want in a power plant?" Susan floated down the shaft like a dandelion seed in a light breeze.

         "You will understand once we get there."

         At the bottom of the shaft, they moved down a concrete hallway, passed several doors, and turned down a short corridor. In front of them was a large steel door with a control panel on the side. Sitting in front of the door, behind a steel desk, was a guard reading a paperback novel.

         "Now, we must wait," said the hooded stranger.

         "Why? Can't we pass through the door?" Susan felt exposed standing in the corridor in full view of the guard. She was not used to being invisible.

         "You will need to know how to get through the door later."

         "Why?" Susan wondered what he was talking about. "Wait, you don't mean you want me to come back when I'm back in my body, do you?"

         "Yes, that is the only way you can do it."

         "Can do what?" Her voice couldn't hide the frustration she felt.

         "Wait and see."

         They waited for what seemed like a long time until a gray-haired man walked into the corridor. He was wearing a white lab coat with a name tag and ID card attached to the pocket on the left side of his chest. Susan read the name, Dr. John Kimball. She remembered reading in the paper that he was the head of research at the new plant.

         "If you want to keep your job, I suggest you keep your nose out of your book." Dr. Kimball placed both hands on the desk and looked at the guard.

         "S s sorry sir," the guard stammered. "I'll get the key right away." He pulled a large, flat key out of his pocket and placed it in the control panel on the wall.

          "Move out of the way so I can enter my pin number," Dr. Kimball commanded.

         "Yes, sir." The guard moved as far from the panel as the chain on his key would let him.

         "Move closer, Susan," whispered the hooded stranger. "Try to see what he's typing."

         Susan moved between the guard and Dr. Kimball, walking through the chain in the process. She watched as the doctor typed in the digits: 2 . . . 5 . . . 7 . . . 1 . . . #. The door hissed as the pressure was released and the door opened.

         "Don't forget to lock the door behind me." Dr. Kimball walked through the door and out of sight.

         The guard started to push the door closed. "Hurry, we must get inside before it closes." The phantom moved through the closing gap in the doorway.

         Susan followed. "Why do we need to hurry? Can't we just walk through the door?"

         "This room is protected by a barrier that our astral forms can't penetrate." The figure moved further into the room allowing Susan to look around.

         The room they entered looked like it was out of a science fiction movie. Large machines with dials, gauges and levers were everywhere. The room must have been at least as large as Susan's house.

         She watched as Dr. Kimball disappeared behind some equipment before following her guide to another part of the lab. Susan saw the cloaked stranger move toward a thick glass cylinder, which was connected to many long tubes and wires.

         "It's all right," he said into the glass. "I brought someone who can help us."

         Susan looked into the glass and was shocked to see a young woman sleeping inside. In the woman's arms was a baby. My baby. No, that was a dream, she reminded herself. The woman wore the same silver dress Susan had worn in the dream. She wondered if it had been a dream at all.

         "Susan, let me introduce you to my wife, Alibecli, and our son, Yugio." The stranger then removed his hood and revealed his face. "I am Macidec."

         Susan looked into the face of her captor for the first time. The long, clean-shaven chin, thick black hair, and mesmerizing, green eyes seemed odd, but his ears really grabbed her attention; those long, pointed ears.

         "Waa . . . what are you?" Susan took a couple of steps backward. "What is going on here?"

         "I'm sorry if my features frighten you," said Macidec. "I am from another world, one very different from your own. I have projected my spirit into your world, but I cannot bring my body here. Will you help us?"

         Susan moved toward the cylinder and looked inside. The baby's ears were slightly pointed and the tips of the mother's long ears poked through her thick, golden hair. It all seemed so unreal. "How did your wife and child get trapped here?"

         "I don't know." Macidec looked down at his wife. "Please, you are the only one who can free her."

         "I'll need some time to think about it." Susan looked at the lights on a control panel nearby and tried to make sense out of what she was experiencing. The room was quiet except for the gentle hum of the machinery. In the distance, she thought she heard a familiar voice taking to someone. Leaving Macidec alone with his family, she walked around some equipment and headed down a short passageway. In a small room, she saw Dr. Kimball standing in front of a man in a steel cage. Lying next to the man was a woman who seemed to be asleep. Both of the people in the cage looked like they hadn't bathed in several days. Their hair was unkempt and the man's beard was uneven.

         Susan moved closer to get a better look and then froze. Under the matted hair she saw the eyes of her father.

Continued in "The Tree on the Dike - chapter 12"