Jimmy's Dreams II: A Recurring Nightmare Read online

  Jimmy’s Dreams II

  A Recurring Nightmare

  Saxon Andrew

  Copyright © 2017 Saxon Andrew

  All rights reserved.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, organisations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to any online ebook store and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Contents

  Copyright

  Introduction

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Epilogue

  Books by Saxon Andrew

  About Saxon Andrew

  Introduction

  Jimmy sat on the mountain just below the clouds with his fourteen-year old twins. John and Spring sat on each side of him and stared down into the valley with their father and saw the large Space Jumper lift off the landing pad and start moving vertically toward the sky. It was silent as it lifted slowly and once it was clear of the surrounding farms, it went to a speed that was deceptive. With the drive-units cut back there was no noise and it was hard to follow just how fast it was moving. Jimmy shook his head, “Back in the old days, you would have heard the launch of the space shuttles for more than eighty-miles.”

  “Where is the Aegis going, Dad?” Spring asked.

  “It’s taking the last of the defense satellites into orbit. They’re going to be put between the GPS and weather satellites.”

  “Dad, I’ve never understood why the Aliens didn’t remove all of our satellites after the asteroids hit?”

  Jimmy looked at John and shrugged, “I wondered the same thing; Rachel insists they were too lazy to take the time to do it.”

  “Lazy? Why does she say that?”

  “The Aliens used the simplest method possible to kill our civilization, John. Rachel says they could have taken out the last Space Shuttle that removed one of the three asteroids targeted on Earth but then would have had to work up to the last moment getting one of the two remaining asteroids moved in time to hit the United States. They allowed it to get away. I guessed they figured it would be destroyed when the two asteroids hit. She also pointed out that when we disabled their shuttle and blaster that every one of them on the shuttle complained about having to move the blaster out of the shuttle.” Jimmy smiled, “And she is right about that. They complained about moving it out and then complained about having to move it back in the shuttle when it failed to function, when we cut the power wires. If they had to go around Earth and destroy all the satellites in orbit, it would have taken months to remove the thousands. Rachel says they were just too lazy to take the time.”

  “What do you think?” Spring asked.

  Jimmy sighed, “Rachel could be right. The Aliens were not the sharpest tools in a toolbox. But I think they took the same position with the satellites as they did with the Space Shuttle that escaped; once the planet was hit, they no longer represented a danger. Why take the time to destroy them when there was no one on the planet that could do anything with them? They just saved the time and energy.”

  “I’ve seen the recording of the Aliens struggling to push the blaster out of the shuttle and they appeared to be really struggling with it.” Jimmy looked at John and he shrugged, “Spring and I pushed it across the science lab a week ago, and it didn’t weight much at all.”

  Jimmy shrugged and Spring said, “I think if we had to push it underwater, we would have struggled like they did.”

  Jimmy’s head went back slightly and said, “What makes you say that?”

  “Well, they are creatures that live under water. I suspect trying to move on land in their bulky spacesuits was hard enough. I think if they are under water, they would be quite different in their strength and agility.”

  Jimmy smiled, “Spring, that is a marvelous insight. Where did you come up with that?”

  Spring shrugged, “I had a dream and saw some of them moving underwater.”

  Jimmy’s eyes narrowed instantly, “When did you have this dream?!”

  “A few weeks ago, but I don’t know if it was real.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’ve been thinking about them a lot and it could have been just a normal dream, Dad.”

  “But you’ve never seen an Alien out of their spacesuits,” John said.

  “No, but you can see the basic shape of their bodies in the recordings.”

  Jimmy looked at John, “Have you had any dreams about them?”

  “No.”

  “Spring, when we go back down, get with Rachel and see if she can draw what you saw in your dream.”

  “Ok.”

  “Another vessel is going up!” John announced. Jimmy and Spring looked toward the valley below and saw another large Space Jumper start rising. “Where is that one going?”

  “It’s hauling the first of the mini-scopes out to the asteroid belt to scan the outer Solar System.”

  “Won’t the Aliens wonder what satellites are doing out there?”

  “No, Spring. They’re disguised as large rocks and shouldn’t be detected. They’re programmed to search for the field the Aliens use to travel faster than light. They will give us a warning if they detect anything so we can go to a War Alert.”

  “Oh.”

  Jimmy watched the space jumper disappear into the clouds and said, “Let’s go back down. I think your mother is going to be put out with us if we’re late to lunch.”

  “She’ll understand, Dad.”

  “I know, Spring…and she won’t say anything. But she’ll be bothered. If we can spare her any bad feelings, we should do it.” The twins nodded and stood up.

  Chapter One

  Lt. Edward Boyer stood at attention in front of General Alverez. Alverez looked him the eyes and had his chin an inch from his, “I understand you injured one of my pilots, Lieutenant!” Ed remained silent and the General’s eyes narrowed. “From what I hear, you told her she did not have the option to stop seeing you on her personal time. IS THAT TRUE?!” Ed’s eyes widened and he couldn’t speak. “I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!”

  “Sir, she led me on and then tried to drop me,” Ed answered nervously.

  “SO…YOU GRABBED HER ARM AND NEARLY BROKE IT!!”

  “Sir, I did not intend to injure Lt. Moore.”

  The General stared into Ed’s eyes, turned around, and went to his chair, where he stared at Ed. “Lieutenant, the only thing preventing me from
booting you out of the military is your piloting skills. I should do it anyway. You’ve proven yourself to be nothing but a trouble maker. How many fights have you been in over the last month?”

  Ed knew he was in deep trouble, “Six, Sir.”

  “And all six of the ones you fought had to report to the infirmary. I can’t afford you, Boyer!! However, just so we’re clear, when you walk out of my office, you are busted back to Ensign. If you so much as look at Lt. Moore, I’ll throw you in the brig and leave you there until I kick your butt out of my command. If you’re in another fight, expect the same treatment! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!”

  “YES, SIR!”

  “Get out of my sight!” Ed saluted, did an about face, and moved at his fastest speed out of the General’s office.

  A few minutes later, Jimmy walked in and said, “You should have just pulled the trigger on him, Juan. He’s poison.”

  Juan sighed, “He’s my best pilot, Jimmy.”

  “But he’s too aggressive and has absolutely no social skills. He’s too dangerous to keep around. Summer told me about his run in with Lt. Moore and insisted he be punished and removed from our community.”

  “Jimmy, I’ll only give him one more chance and then I’ll boot him out of the service.”

  “Juan, I want to send him to Paris to dig the lower levels.”

  “One more chance, Jimmy.” Jimmy stared at Juan and then sighed. He nodded and left Juan’s office. Juan watched him leave and hit his desk with a fist. Lt. Boyer wasn’t just the best pilot, no one could come close to matching his skill with a Striker. Juan shook his head, what a waste of talent.

  • • •

  Ed walked down the corridor and was furious. He should go back and resign at the disrespect he had just been shown. He turned around, took a step…and stopped. He just couldn’t bear the thought of never going back up into space. He turned around and headed toward his Striker. He remembered the fear in Charlotte’s eyes when he grabbed her arm and told her, “You cannot just play with my emotions! You will continue to be my girl or you’ll regret it!” Charlotte’s fear was clear but her pain was also clear. He released his grip on her arm and saw the deep red marks his fingers had left. He didn’t realize he had grabbed her so tightly. She had turned and ran from him holding her left arm with her right hand.

  He stopped and sighed. He’d not seen her since and every time he went to her quarters, her roommate refused to let him enter. “GO AWAY!”

  “But…”

  “YOU’VE HURT HER ENOUGH! NOW GO AWAY!”

  Ed had almost forced his way in but decided that would really cause an issue with Command. Then, he was called into the General’s office. Now…he had to be really careful. He went to the Quartermaster and turned in his Lieutenant’s Gold Bar and was given the silver bar of an ensign. He sighed again and put the silver-bar on his collar. He was now the lowest ranking Striker Pilot in Fleet. Pilots received their Lieutenant Bar after completing pilot training. He went to the cafeteria, picked up a tray and sat down in his squadron’s designated eating area. The other pilots at the table nodded and continued their conversation.

  Then…A Captain walked up in front of Ed and leaned across the table and glared at him, “If you ever harm another one of my pilots…”

  “The General just informed me what would happen,” Ed interrupted with his eyes narrowed.

  The Captain sneered, “A lot worse than that will happen!!” Ed glared at the Captain and she smiled, “Oh, you think you can take me!!”

  Butch Hermon said from the end of the table, “Captain, I’d bet all my money on him if it comes to that.” The Captain’s head jerked toward Butch as he smiled and shrugged, “Ed has won the last two Expert Class hand-to-hand tournaments, Sir and I didn’t see you competing in them. I just thought you should know before you write a check you can’t cash.” Butch went back to his plate and lifted a fork filled with eggs.

  The Captain leaned back and stared at Ed from across the table. Ed’s face looked menacing and he wished that this smart-alecky Captain would try something. Her next statement surprised him. “Ensign, do you ever intend to get married and have a family.”

  Ed was surprised and said without thinking, “Of course!”

  “And just how many children would you want?”

  “Two.”

  “Both boys?” the Captain asked.

  “No, a boy and a girl, if this is any of your business.”

  “What would you name them?”

  Ed saw everyone at the table was looking at him and he decided to play this Captain’s game, “My son would be named after me and my daughter would be named Angelica.”

  “Why would you choose Angelica?”

  Ed extended his chin forward, smiled, and said, “Because she would be an angel!”

  The Captain nodded and then she stared at him for a moment before saying, “I want you to picture your new born daughter in your arms smiling up at you. In what seems like a moment, you’ll turn around and she’ll be ten years old holding your hand, smiling up at you as you go for a walk. Turn around again and she’ll be twenty. Now imagine someone just like you grabbing her arm so hard the bones are bruised and telling her that she had no choice but to stay with him or worse would follow!” The Captain leaned forward again and looked into Ed’s eyes, “What would you do to that man? You deserve the name you’ve been given.” She turned around and walked away.

  Ed glared at her and said to himself, “What name?”

  Butch Hermon never looked up from his plate as he said, “They’ve named you the Bully Rat.” Ed jerked his head toward Butch and he looked up from his plate. His eyes widened and appeared twice their size in his black face, “Hey, you asked a question and I thought you wanted an answer.”

  Ed stood up and ten other officers around Butch stood up with him; it was clear they would not allow him to harm the most popular person in their squadron. Ed knew he could handle three or four of them, but ten…that was too many. Butch turned back to his plate and said, “Have you noticed that there are no females sitting in our area. They won’t come in if you’re here. I think all of us would appreciate it if you would finish eating so we could see some pretty faces.”

  Ed glanced around and saw Butch was right. All the other squadrons had an equal mix of males and females but only male pilots were eating in his area. He picked up his tray and headed for the rear exit. He emptied the trash and glanced back at his area and saw several female pilots entering the cafeteria and moving through the line with their trays toward his squadron’s assigned space. He went through the door and then glanced through the glass inserts. Now there appeared to be numerous women entering and moving into the area.

  He snarled and walked away toward the tunnel leading to his Striker’s landing facility. He walked to the high-speed carts, stopped, and sat down on a bench against the tunnel’s wall. He couldn’t get the image of a man harming his daughter. He shook his head; hell, he didn’t have a daughter! But he often imagined what she would be like if he did. He hung his head and went to the cart. Thirty-minutes later, he left the cave and went to optimum speed into Earth’s upper atmosphere and then moved out to his assigned position beyond the moon.

  • • •

  He arrived in orbit above the moon and sat back in his chair. He thought back to his last date with Charlotte and remembered her fear and pain. He realized he reveled in it; he liked seeing her fear. He liked seeing others’ fear of him as well. He thought about it for a moment, why?

  He thought back to his father, who had committed suicide when he was twelve. He never shed a tear at his death and was secretly thankful the mean SOB was gone. His father had taught him respect. Ed closed his eyes and shook his head. The many brutal beatings hadn’t really taught him respect. It had taught him fear, loathing, and hatred. He studied martial arts so that one day he could kill the mean old man. Now, he suddenly realized, he was his father.

  He saw in his mind his mother flinching every time his father r
aised his voice and now she did the same thing when he raised his voice to her; she also feared him, just like she feared her dead husband. Something inside him broke with that realization. He saw his future ahead of him and knew he would be alone. Like he told the ones he beat up, “There are consequences to behavior,” he would say as he hit them. He realized that Bully Rat would pay the consequences of his behavior as well; there would never be a daughter.

  • • •

  Earth had come a long way since the giant asteroids had smashed into the United States and Pacific Ocean. Ninety-eight-percent of all human life perished. The results of the ensuing Tsunamis, firestorms, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions killed most of human life. The gigantic mounds of ashes that fell out of the sky from the numerous volcanic eruptions filled cities to a depth of twenty-feet and suffocated millions before they were covered.

  But it was the nuclear winter that followed the impacts that killed most of the survivors of the impacts. The thick layer of dense dark, volcanic ash filled clouds blocked the sun and dropped the temperature of the planet into a new Ice Age, where nothing but the hardiest of plants could survive for years. And just like the asteroid that hit Earth sixty-six-million years earlier, most of the larger land animals perished. There were no more elephants, rhinos, giraffes, or most other animals that weighed more than several hundred pounds. They couldn’t find enough to feed them through the long, endless winters. Most of the predators died with them; there were no more large cats on the planet. The only cats alive were brought to the community as pets before the impacts. Most animals ultimately froze to death in the bitter cold of nuclear winter. It was only close to the equator that some survived.

  The domesticated animals that fed man such as cows, sheep, goats, and pigs died of starvation or the freezing temperatures. The only survivors were those brought into the Community’s valley. Earth became a snow and ice covered waste land. But the community Jimmy Carpenter had built in the Swiss Alps had survived and flourished. They had prepared for what was coming and lived where so many others had died.