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Chapter -2-

Down Time

Wednesday January 17, 5am PST East of San Francisco, California

** "Hey, Wilf, c'mere." ** Reno motioned for the white-haired man to follow. "You know Emmett Brown never smoked cigarettes."

"Will you shut up about how much I look like Christopher Lloyd? I just needed to come out for a smoke. I didn't wake you did I?"

Reno rolled his eyes. "Do I look like I just came from the house? I've been out here for two hours." He brought his hands down to the bottom of his jacket and gave a stern downward tug then added, "Follow me."

The two headed up over a hill away from Nevada's childhood house. At the top of the hill, Reno settled down and pointed to a barn with no roof. "See that? It's been falling apart since I was a kid. I came up here to think but then I saw you out there smoking and I wanted someone to talk to."

"I have to admit," Wilfred said, "I've never seen anything like what those two boys can do. He turned sand into glass and the other one was able to take the rusty tube in the garage and turned it into a strip of steel without rust. He just flaked off the rust and molded it like it was clay. I've never seen anything like that."

"Yeah, the one that did the glass thing is Evan Balmoral. The other kid is Johann Foster. C'mon, aren't you impressed with my cool power?"

"Theirs have more practical applications," Wilfred murmured. "They can build and create things. It's got my mind racing."

"How so?"

"I want to upgrade your car. If you're going to be a superhero, you need a car that makes the Batmobile look amateur by comparison. You remember what I did with my father, right?"

"Yeah," Reno chuckled. "You used to build racecars with your dad. I remember you telling me that. Whatever made you decide to become a forensic geek and a medical examiner for the police?"

"Originally I wasn't going to do either. Racecars were my dad's thing. I got into forensics because of a girl. Anyhow, look, I was thinking of ways to trick out your car. But I was also thinking ... what if you are driving it and you throw a lightning bolt and it ignites your gas tank? Reno, we're going to have to redesign your engine to run on water."

"What the hell? I've heard of hydrogen but not water."

"C'mon, Reno. Don't you remember high school? Where you had the science experiment involving a beaker of water, a match, and igniting it?"

"Uh. No. Must've missed that one way out here in the country. I don't even think Vincent had a class where he made water explode."

"Water is pumped from a fuel tank; it goes to a chamber with two electrodes ran through the bubbling water. You hold a match over the beaker and it goes boom. The water is turned into hydrogen and oxygen, extremely flammable, which will turn the pistons of the engine, giving you acceleration. Exhaust vapor is recaptured and sent back to the fuel tank, which is full of water. You'll have to fill it every now and then because some will evaporate in the burning stage. It uses a form of electrolysis to break the water into hydrogen and oxygen to feed the engine. Heck, it'll run so clean, you can put synthetic oil in your engine probably once every couple of years. If not longer."

"How does this work? Why don't people do it now?"

"Well, for starters, it takes a lot of electricity to work. You're the source. Of course, I could also install induction motors in aluminum rims. The coil would wrap around the brake assembly so as not to interfere. One motor in each wheel. If we connect it to a metal steering column, preferably gold, with superconductor cables about an inch in diameter with a quarter-inch supercold jacket ... we could have you zap your steering wheel and power four total induction motors to take you up to really high speeds."

Reno rubbed his face. "That was a mouthful."

"The only thing is ... we'd need four Government-issue run-flat tires. Know anyone that can break into a secret service warehouse and grab'em?" Wilfred grinned. He looked up at the sky, still dark overhead, but growing lighter in the distance. "You could use that Three Ninety-Six cubic inch beast to get your car up to a high speed then switch over to the induction motors and get yourself up over three hundred miles an hour. Just ... you know ... a suggestion."

Reno rubbed his chin. "Really? Three hundred? I'm not going to lie, you've got me interested."

"That's because you're an asshole behind the wheel and you love going fast."

"That I do. And yes, I know a girl who could steal tires from any warehouse. No matter how secure it is. Karla could do it without leaving any evidence, too."

"Reno, everyone leaves evidence."

"Teleportation."

Wilfred's eyes widened. "Now you're just messing with me."

"No way. She's the real deal. Oh, hey, I wanted to show you something while we're up here."

"Oh?"

Reno pulled out his pistol and removed the slide from the top of the weapon. "See my forty-five here? Watch this." He pulled out a pocket-full of steel BBs and set them on the ground. "They kinda' melt, though, because it's some sort of chrome-plated steel ... crappy stuff. Keep your eyes on the BBs." He brought the metal frame of his gun to one of the BBs.

"What're you doing?"

"Watch, man." Reno brought the top of the metal slide, in his other hand, down until it contacted the other side of the BB.

The little pellet suddenly disappeared.

"Electromagnetism?"

"I can make'em jump just by touching both sides while charging the metal gun parts."

"Jesus." Wilfred rubbed his chin in thought.

"Yeah, I know, cool right?"

"Reno. I have an idea. Now ... follow my words here. Hold your gun out and point it towards the barn." He waited until the ex-Inspector pointed his weapon towards the barn at the bottom of the hill. "Now charge it and hold the metal slide next to the gun but _without_letting both sides touch. Just keep them super close together. But I want you to charge one positive and give the other piece a negative charge. Can you do that?"

"I'll try. Why?"

"Just keep them very close together but don't touch them against one another."

Reno held the slide and his pistol frame, pointed at the barn down at the bottom of the hill. He charged both pieces and tightened his jaw firmly. "Now what?"

Wilfred picked up one of the steel BBs and brought it above the weapon and the adjacent slide. "Ready? Aim ..." He released the pellet. It met between the weapon and the slide, creating a bridge in the gap.

Suddenly, the small metal pellet rushed forward, between the slide and frame, and shot off. It hit the barn creating a loud noise from the concussion. The barn shifted then the entire structure collapsed to the ground.

Wilfred rolled onto his side, laughing hysterically.

"Christ, what did you just do?" He watched Wilfred laugh until the man became winded. "Are you kidding me? You're almost forty-five. You're acting like you're twelve. What did you just do?"

Wilfred Greg sat up, gasping for breath, still laughing. "You, Reno, are able to create an electromagnetic rail-gun by holding two pieces of metal in your hands! We have to find a way to add that to the car! Just imagine, if we can get a big capacitor and build a compulsator and use them to weigh down your trunk, you'll have traction for that 325 horsepower supercharged Chevy engine ... and you'll be able to store energy in them to shoot off a rail-gun. You just blew up a barn ... with a steel BB! Imagine the applications! You're a weapon!"

"Are you impressed with my power now?"

"Yes!"

Silence. A moment passed. Reno grinned. His grin broadened into a smile then he chuckled. It caused Wilfred to spark off in laughter again. The more Reno thought about it, the more he couldn't help but laugh, too.

Soon, the both of them were cackling long and loud with Reno trying the stunt again. He fired another BB. It hit a tree and caused the trunk to explode into splinters. The large branches came crashing down, spewing up a cloud of dust around it.

The two fell over, onto their sides, in hysterics.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Johann came to the crest of the hill and peered down at two dark blobs in the distance. "What's all the noise? I thought we were under attack or something."

"Hey Johann," Reno said with a wry grin.

"Johann," Wilfred said, sitting back up. "Go wake up Evan. We have a long day ahead of us. We're going to make the most amazing car you've ever seen and it's going to take all three of us."

Reno blinked. "Three?"

"Yes, you're going to bed. Tired people get grumpy. You throw lightning with your emotions. Go to bed. Also, do you remember the night club where you got your abilities?"

"Well, yeah, Wilf. Pages Lost. Why?"

"There was a fire there. Some said it was an insurance scam. It's abandoned right now. Rumor has it the girl who owned it is moving east. You should head back into town tomorrow and look around for anything that might prove your innocence."

"How would I even get out there without a car?"

Wilfred shifted his weight then stood up and offered a hand. Reno took it and both of them got to their feet.

Wilf pulled out another cigarette, his lighter, and lit it then took a deep breath, followed by exhaling a sigh of content. "I'll drop you off then pick up some parts I'm going to need. You can get a rental car back. Then when the Chevelle is ready, you and Evan can go on your way and I'll take Johann to the airport in the rental car and drop it off."

Johann said, "You'll both need to get the rental car together. Mister Greg, you'll need to show your ID to become the secondary driver."

"It only matters if I'm caught," said Wilfred with a chuckle. "Everyone knows car rental places are strict on that stuff. And almost everyone dodges the fee and gambles against the odds of wrecking it. No sweat, kid. And don't call me by my last name. Just Wilf is fine."

"Alright, well, you'd better drop it off after hours, then. I'll go wake up Evan."

"That's the trick, right there. You return the car and drop the key in the overnight box. Just because I work for the cops doesn't mean I play by other people's rules. If it isn't a law then it's merely a suggestion."

Reno brought his palm to his forehead. "Don't make him your role model in life, Johann."

"Wasn't planning on it." Foster replied with a chuckle. "And if it's okay, I'd rather go with Reno and Evan to the airport. I'd want to go for a ride in the 'cool car' one last time." He headed back down the backside of the hill and made his way into the house.

"It's cold out this morning," Reno said.

"I didn't notice. I guess three beers and a cigarette will do that, huh? And don't give me that look, Nevada. It helps me relax enough to think things out instead of rushing my thoughts. I've been thinking about stuff we can do to this car all night long."

"Like ... what?"

"Molybdenum racing frame. Steal a capacitor off a telephone pole and mount it into the trunk. At least until we find a better one. Then we'll get a carbon fiber car body. They sell them as kits. Evan and Johann can work together to compress the carbon fiber so that it's more, well, dense. Then you'll have a lightweight armored car. Graphene panels, which are electric conductors, so you can charge the car in case anyone tries to touch it or force their way in. You'll be able to electrocute them."

"Jesus."

"That's not the half of it. We can get some of those pellets and have carbon coated, or maybe even carbon core BBs, then we can use those boys to compress them so they're denser. Then we'll dip them in light steel-chrome coating so they bridge the charge gap between the rails. The rail-gun will melt off the top layer but they'll be airborne and, let's face it, compressed carbon will make for awesome pellets, let alone awesome armor."

"What's the big deal about compressed carbon? I don't get it."

"Reno Nevada! Don't you know what you get when you compress carbon? Haven't you seen the Superman movie where Chris Reeves crushes that lump of coal in his hand?"

"Man, I wasn't a child of the 80's. And I've not watched the original Superman movies since I was a kid."

Wilfred groaned and shook his head. "When you compress carbon down to its densest possible form ... it becomes ... a ... what?"

Reno shrugged.

"A diamond." Evan said from behind them. The boy stretched, coming up the hill then yawned. "Jay said you guys were still up here. "What are you turning into diamond?"

"Reno's car and the pellets we're going to shoot from a rail-gun."

Evan blinked, looking from Reno back to Wilfred. "Wow. Holy smokes. That totally gives new meaning to, 'Pimp my Ride.' I mean, seriously? A diamond body? That's going to be awesome."

"With a rail-gun," Reno chuckled. "Which I just learned can blow things up when the pellet connects with a target."

Wilfred grinned brightly, excited about the project. "Then we'll have to find a scratch-resistant paint that's Teflon based so it won't melt or bubble when Reno goes hot. To date, the greatest power source to be used on a rail-gun was just shy of forty megajoules. To put that into perspective, you two, a single megajoule is approximately the kinetic energy of a one-tonne vehicle moving at a hundred miles'n hour in optimal conditions. Now ...

"The average bolt of lightning is three miles long, and runs between one-and-ten billion joules. That's measured as 'gigajoules,' which is what Reno puts out, because he creates bolts of lightning. So, right off the bat, Reno Nevada will wield the most powerful rail-gun in existence. All I have to do is design a hood scoop and a blowback pipe to defuse the kick back and, oh!"

Reno and Evan appeared startled. "What?" asked Nevada.

"Oh, man, oh man! Do you guys know how plasma works?"

"Uh, it's in your blood," said Reno.

"I mean plasma as a byproduct from electricity discharge," said Wilfred, snapping his left fingers three times rapidly. "When you run electricity through a plasma conduit, it increases the end-product energy. So if you put in a thousand volts, the end result will be closer to two thousand volts. I'm not sure if I'm quoting the math exactly but ... we can use the plasma off the back of the rail-gun, into a magnetic bottle. Just ... have a magnetic channel that throttles the input into the bottle. This car is going to be amazing."

Reno rubbed his forehead then glanced at Evan and shrugged. "He said it's going to be better than the Bat Mobile."

"This is all theoretical stuff," Evan replied. "How do we know we can make this stuff?"

Wilfred turned to Evan and clasped his shoulder. "You, Evan ... and your friend ... you two are the key to making theory into reality. It may surprise you to know that I have an education - a PhD and a doctorate. I was going to go into quantum mechanics, but after college I was dating this gothic chick. Do not give me crap about that. Anyhow, I had also taken enough classes in medical and biology that I got a degree in that field as well ... I wanted to impress the girl, who was infatuated with a guy who performed autopsies. So I became a medical examiner for the police. I got her back."

"So what happened to her?" asked Reno.

He held his hands up in a semi-defensive posture. "No jokes, please. She died."

Evan blinked. "I didn't see that punch line coming."

"Yeah, me either." Reno winced. "Sorry Wilf. What happened?"

"Cocaine overdose. Anyway, let's go and get all the things we're going to need. We have a long, long day ahead of us. We also have a lot of race shops to visit. One of the officers back at the job speaks Spanish fluently. I'll have him write up a list of car parts and we'll show the list to the shop owners. If all goes well, we should have the car finished in about five days. IF we don't have to order anything."

"Alright." Reno stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. "Evan, go grab Johann and the car keys and meet us down by the Chevelle."

"I hope this thing is going to be as insane as you make it sound," Evan replied. "I look forward to seeing it." He headed back towards the house.

Reno exchanged glances with Wilfred.

"What, Nevada?"

"How old were you when you dated this girl?"

"Give me a break. I was twenty."

Reno put his hands on his hips. "You're telling me that you had two degrees when you were twenty years old? I call bullshit, buddy."

"Reno..." Wilf put his hands into his pants pockets and panned his gaze back towards the house.

"What?"

Wilfred turned back to Nevada then frowned. "Look. I started college when I was fifteen. And because of a girl who wound up dying in the end, I changed my path and did something unfulfilling with my life. I basically became a forensic cop after she died. We were both stupid with the coke. I cleaned up and now I do what I can to put drug pushers behind bars from my lab."

"Damn. Dude, I'm really sorry about that, Wilf."

"That's why it bothers me when you say I look like an old man. I'm forty-five. But I beat my body up for a while there."

"So you really regret not doing some amazing science thing, huh?"

"Yeah, Reno, I did. But I don't regret it anymore."

"What changed?"

Wilfred shrugged and a wry smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Because I took a job working for the police, I met you and now I got to see all these people with wild and crazy abilities. I feel like building a super car and a super weapon for a superhero has to somehow make up for all the autopsies I've done on all the people that died like Donna did. I've wasted my life solving crime instead of making scientific discoveries."

"Damn, man. Well, I know how you feel. I lost my girl, and realized I was stuck doing a job I hated."

"Now you're giving me the option to go both routes and live my life in a blaze of glory. I get to do what I've always wanted to do ... something amazing. Invent something. Create something. Change the world. I'm going to write a paper on this stuff one day. I'll build a compulsator and a capacitor that will handle the kind of charge you give out and be able to fit in the trunk of your car. Yeah, for now we're using the one off of a telephone pole, but... one day. And I'm going to publish my study and have proof that it's legitimate. And then I'll have my own Wikipedia page. That's all I want ... my own page."

"Well then," Reno said with a grin, "let's go invent the 'Flux Capacitor.' Finish your cigarette then meet me down at the car. No smoking in my Chevelle." Reno's grin broadened. They gave one another the middle finger, jokingly, then Nevada headed down the backside of the hill towards the house.

X

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X

January 17, noon PST Pacific Ocean, west of Mexico

** Karla slumped on the sofa of her yacht** and sighed from the flit of pain she felt behind her eyes. She decided it was time to wait the headache out. But, just as expected, a flashback followed it.

"It's time," came a voice from besides her. The man stood up and stepped in front of her. All she could see was the backside of his jacket. The custom lambskin piece was chic and looked good on him; she harbored a great deal of dislike for the man, however. "Come along."

Karla found herself rising to her feet. She looked around, seeing people seated, asleep, blankets draped across some, others listening to CD players with headsets. Of the hundred-some-odd people, only a few were American or European in descent.

"Please," she begged. "There has to be another way to do this. Can't you just point out the Asian Grand Justiciar?"

"Because, Karla," said the man with his back still to the girl, "Your way of handling it would create a vacuum and this is a sealed compartment. I don't know what would happen to the pressurization. Besides, bodies are counted on and off. Investigations would follow. My way is better. Don't presume to think I care about bystanders."

"You're going to sacrifice yourself for this mission?"

"Oh, no, not at all. Karla, you and I will walk away from this without a scratch. Why are you so upset? I've seen you long, long ago. You were magnificent. A true killer. Worthy of the title, 'demon.' What has changed?"

She pursed her lips together. "Nathaniel Carrington showed me that I can be more than some nasty little bitch. Methos showed me a greater plan for everything. Think about what you're doing. Your brother wouldn't allow this to happen."

"You're fooling yourself. And do not pretend to understand my brother better than I do, you little jezebel. Now stand besides me."

Karla struggled with the situation but found herself following the man up the bluish-gray carpet. She bit her lower lip and sighed in defeat. "God damn you. You'd better kill me or I swear I will go straight to your brother after this is all over. I'll tell him every little detail, so help me God."

"Shut up. Come stand up here, next to me. It's time," said the man. He rubbed his hands but still faced away from her.

Eric glanced out the window and sneered. "That boy is going to fall in and get himself killed." Eric Loupe's words shook her from her reverie.

Karla glanced out the starboard porthole and smiled weakly at the sight of Fox walking the railings on the edge of the yacht. "He does that for practice. You can't anticipate a wave if you don't see it. If we hit a little chop, it forces him to react quickly. It's the best way for him to practice. It's his ability, Eric."

"And if he hits his head, then what? God, I hope I wasn't an overactive worrier in my past."

She fished a pill out of her bra and put it onto her tongue. With a bit of backwash, she swallowed it then flinched. It worked. It felt like sex. But it went into effect even faster than she expected.

After a moment, a smile found her face and the awkward mood dissolved along with her headache.

"Headache, Karla?"

"Not anymore. It's passing." She sighed in relief, cleared her throat, and in a bright tone, added, "Watch this." She lifted her hand and gave a wiggle of her fingers.

Fox fell away from the rail. As he fell, he closed his hand around the rail, then performed a one-armed chin-up. He put one of his feet against the outer hull then pushed off of it hard, flipping back up onto the rail and began walking again. Karla turned to Eric and waggled her brows. "See? He's fine. You need to lighten up. If you're going to spend your life with me you're going to have to let go of the past you cannot remember. You're going to have to find patience within yourself. But regardless of change, it's because you want this relationship right? I'm worth it right?"

"Well ... yes. I certainly think so. And I hope you do, too."

"Good. Because I'm a silly girl and there's nothing wrong with you trying to have fun in your life. Go ahead. Try being a silly boy for once."

"Boobies. Thank you for giving me a chance, love-muffin." He offered a smirk.

"Penis. You're welcome sweetie pie."

"All this talk of body parts and pastries makes me hungry like the wolf."

Karla eyed him for a second, having a quick flashback to Rufus Darken. "Hungry like the wolf, huh?" Then a smirk crept across her face and she simply said, "Eat me."

He chuckled. "What is that look for?"

"You boys and your Duran-Duran. Something fishy going on."

"Yeah, yeah. We'd better fool around now while Fox is outside, busy, and your period hasn't yet started. If I recall correctly, you're due for it this week. And I want to have sex with you. Right now."

"Good. You're trainable. I like that. Get your butt in the bedroom. I'm going to go apologize to Fox. He's hard on himself when he thinks he's made a mistake."

"Why?"

"Because he's always mentally competing with his sister. I need to tell him that I'm the reason he almost took a salt-water bath. I'll meet you in the bedroom in just a moment." She disappeared and reappeared out on the deck, shouting, "HIYA, FOX!" in an attempt to startle him. It didn't appear to work.

Meanwhile, Eric unbuttoned his shirt and headed across the living room, down the hall and into the master bedroom. The scent of intimacy was already in the air, wafting from Jules and Sinopa's quarters across the hall. "Chri'sake, this really is 'The Love Boat'."

X

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Next chapter: https://www.sofurry.com/view/658843