Richard Stephenson - Collapse

“Get the hell out of my house! NOW!!!”

For the love of God, Howard, why are you making this so difficult? I have my orders. Surely you know what is at stake. You insist on doing this the hard way, don’t you? I can tell I’m going to have to make this official. Captain Butler had memorized the decree signed by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“Howard Beck, by order of the president of the United States, I hereby seize your property, and you will be confined to your suite under armed guard.”

Jackson knew this statement would only enrage the old man further. He suddenly recalled an article he had read about Howard Beck some years ago. The man has Asperger’s Syndrome, which accounted for his driven genius, but it also explained why Howard had come completely unhinged. People with Asperger’s don’t take change well, especially when it pertains to the place they consider to be their home, a place where they fell safe and in control.

“I’d like to see you try, you stupid grunt! Old Man!! Lock down the estate! Deny everyone but me access to your systems and deploy security measures immed…”

When Howard gave the lock down command, the room dimmed and bright lights flashed and flickered in front of the windows. A shimmering curtain appeared in front of each window, clearly some kind of force field. A loud alarm wailed throughout the mansion. Captain Butler immediately forgot about his friendship with the man — his mission was all that mattered. The fate of countless millions was resting on the occupation of Beck Estates. He had no choice. He drew his sidearm faster than a gunslinger, aimed at Howard’s head and pulled the trigger.

A thousandth of a second before the firing pin struck the round, he was knocked off his feet by a force that came from out of nowhere. He had no doubt that Hal had somehow intervened. From his prone position, Butler looked over at Top. First Sergeant Bankhead had drawn his sidearm as well; however, the gray-haired NCO quickly suffered the same fate as Butler. Top landed with a thud behind him and groaned.

Captain Butler blinked his eyes several times and let the shock wear off. “Top! You alright?”

“Roger that, sir. What in the blazes was that? Where’s Howard?”

Both men got to their feet; Howard was nowhere to be found. First Sergeant Bankhead walked over to the double doors of the library.

“Sir, we’re locked in.”

Captain Butler knew Hal was watching them. First Sergeant Bankhead nodded in understanding and walked back over to the middle of the room where they had previously been laying. Both men moved towards their weapons. As First Sergeant Bankhead reached down for his weapon, a puff of air sounded, and Top was sent flying backwards. For a second time, he found himself flat on his back.

“Son of a bitch!” the old man growled as he looked up at the ceiling.

Captain Butler looked up. “Hal! Listen to me! You have to stop this, now! Will you please just hear me out?”

Silence.

“Hal, I know you can hear me, so just listen! Please! This is very important. Millions of lives depend on what we do here today!”

Silence.

“Hal, please! Let me talk to Howard and try to explain this. I know he’s furious with me, and I’m not going to deny that I tried to kill him. That was the last thing I wanted to do! Howard is my friend! I know that if I could just have the chance to talk with him I could make him understand.”

Silence.

First Sergeant Bankhead looked at his CO. “Captain, I think it’s safe to say that Howard is somewhere watching us right now.”

Captain Butler nodded in agreement. “Howard, please! I can’t tell you how sorry I am that things got so out of control. I couldn’t allow you to lock this place down. Howard, a lot of very, very powerful people have big plans for this place. Stopping us will accomplish nothing. Keeping us prisoner in this library will only make things worse for you. If you cooperate with us, I promise no one will ever know what happened here today. If you keep us prisoner in here, you will be tried for treason and executed. Think about it. You are, without a doubt, the smartest person I have ever met. You know I’m right.”

Silence.

“Jackson, we have to get out of here.” Top said, “Colonel Rutherford is expecting a status report from you in twenty-five minutes. In thirty minutes I’m supposed to be meeting with First Sergeant Moore and his platoon sergeants. If we don’t show up, we got maybe ten minutes at best before they start looking for us.”

“You hear that, Howard? Whatever you’re gonna do, you got about a half hour to figure it out!! The clock’s ticking!”

Silence.

“What are your orders, sir?”

“We wait. We give Howard a few minutes and after that we figure out our next move.” Captain Butler’s eyes quickly shot around the room.

First Sergeant Bankhead nodded in understanding. “You think he’ll let us out?”

“I honestly don’t know. I’m betting he’s having a lot of fun right now, aren’t you, Howard? He’s probably just waiting to see what we’ll do when his time is up.”

“He’s got a minute and some change.”

“Top, you remember what I told you after that little girl died at our checkpoint?”

“Sir?”

Captain Butler raised his eyebrows hoping that the man sitting across from him would get the hint.

“Ready when you are, Captain.”

“What’s it going to be, Howard? Time’s up! Shit or get off the pot!”

Silence.

Both men wandered over to the table Howard had toppled and began picking up the books that were scattered across the floor.

“You know, Howard, it’s a real shame that you would treat such amazing books like this.” He picked up a worn, leather bound book. His Last Bow: A Reminiscence of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Wow! This must be worth a small fortune. Real shame you tore the dust cover when you had your little temper tantrum. You reminded me of my toddler. He acts like that when his brother takes his toys away from him. Is that it, Howard? You don’t want to share your toys with us?”

First Sergeant Bankhead laughed. “Yeah! I thought he was gonna start crying like a baby. I’m not surprised he ran off like that.”

Silence.

The two men locked eyes for a brief second and then flipped the table into the air, sending it flying towards the middle of the room. The table landed on its side and slid across the hardwood floor, stopping exactly where they had planned. Before the last book hit the floor, the two men each grabbed a chair and ran towards their pistols. They could hear puffs of air sending rubber bullets towards them. A bullet hit First Sergeant Bankhead in the lower back, causing him to collapse onto his commanding officer. The human shield was all Captain Butler needed. Grabbing both pistols, he aimed one at the computer console on the wall, firing three shots as the console sparked and died. At the same time, with his other hand, he fired at the red, glowing circle on the wall directly in front of him.

“Top, you still with me?”

First Sergeant Bankhead rolled over onto the floor and screamed, “FUCK YOU, HOWARD!”

“I’ll take that as a yes. You’re one tough bastard. How many hits you take since we walked in this room?”

“Four. I’m gonna choke that old geezer when I get my hands on him.”

They were both on their backs behind the table. “Sir, is it safe to get up?”

“I believe so.”

They stood up and scanned the room. “How in the hell did you manage that? How did you know?”

“You ever see 2001: A Space Odyssey ?”

“Can’t say that I have. What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Famous sci-fi movie. The computer is named the HAL-9000. They’re flying in a spaceship to investigate an alien object in space. The computer goes crazy and tries to kill the crew. Howard named his computer after it. In the movie, the computer can see all over the ship through a glowing red fish eye lens. That same red lens is in every room in this house, at least the rooms I’ve been in. I gambled on that being how Hal can see and hear everything. I shot it out and for good measure destroyed the computer console just to be safe.”