Ike Hamill - The Hunting Tree Trilogy

“MIKE, SERIOUSLY, I’VE GOT to show you something when you get a chance,” said Gary.

“Okay Gary,” Mike snapped, “I heard you the first time, but there’s a lot of shit going on here.”

“Got it,” said Gary, as he stalked off towards the van.

“So you’ve got feeds for us?” asked the producer.

“Just pull your truck up next to the van and talk to that pudgy guy there,” Mike said pointing at Gary.

“I heard that,” Gary yelled.

“Shit,” Mike said under his breath. He turned his attention back to the paperwork spread out on Bill’s workbench and tried to make sense of it. The writing was tiny, and the lighting in Bill’s garage proved inadequate as the sun set outside.

“Mike?” asked Katie. “I think Bill is coming down the road.”

“Stall him,” said Mike. “We don’t need him complaining too.”

“Fuck it,” Mike said, sighing. He flipped to the last page of the contract and signed his name. “Let him sue me. I don’t have any money.”

Mike spun around at the sound of yelling outside the garage. As he expected, Bill rounded the corner and strode through the garage door, already yelling.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” demanded Bill.

“Relax, Bill. We’re just getting set up,” said Mike.

“I thought I told you to keep the door shut,” said Bill. He leaned in close—“If that thing figures out what you’re up to, this is going to be one hell of a night.”

“That wouldn’t exactly be bad news for us, Bill,” said Katie, standing off to the side of the irate man.

“Yeah, well,” said Bill, striding over to the workbench and picking up the contract that Mike had just signed, “this paper says you agree to my rules, or I get a percentage of your business.”

“We don’t make any money,” said Mike.

“You will once I’m done with you,” said Bill.

Mike raised his eyebrows and cocked his head, wondering what Bill meant.

“Can we do some establishing shots inside now?” asked a well-dressed woman from the garage door.

“This is a fucking circus,” said Bill, throwing up his arms.

Mike pointed from the woman to Bill. “Leslie, this is the homeowner: Bill Carson. Bill, Leslie.”

“So nice to meet you, Bill,” said Leslie, turning on her TV personality charm. “I’ll be doing the narration and scene work. My producer wants to know if we can get inside for some shots. Is that okay?” She smiled and winked at Bill.

Mike winced, predicting a negative response from Bill to the obvious flirting.

Bill surprised everyone by thrusting his hands in his pockets and stowing his earlier irritation. “Yeah, sure,” he said.

“Thank you so much,” she said. She put her hands together in a prayer position and bowed slightly to Bill, Katie, and Mike before stepping back, out of the garage.

“This better go smooth,” said Bill, regaining his ire as he turned back to Mike.

“Don’t worry,” said Mike. “We’re just here to make some observations and the press is here to keep everything documented and credible.”

“Hey, do you think I should show her the hand?” asked Bill, changing personalities once again.

“What? No!” said Mike. “They’re here to show that we’re not crackpots. Please don’t do anything crazy. Not to mention that you’ll probably get sued or go to jail if anyone finds out you’ve got a severed hand in your freezer.”

Gary trotted back into the garage, panting. “I’m ready to start doing cameras, but we’re never going to have enough cable. Do you think I could pull up on the lawn to get the van closer?”

“Hold on,” said Mike. “One step at a time. First, you can’t set up the equipment yet because the news crew is about to do their establishing shots. They want an untouched house; they don’t want to see our equipment everywhere. But as soon as they’re done, I want you in there. Second, ask Bill if you can pull up on the lawn. It’s his lawn.”

“Bill?” asked Gary.

“Go ahead,” said Bill.

As Gary jogged back out, Mike wore a puzzled expression. “Why wouldn’t he have enough cable?”

“The windows are nailed shut upstairs,” said Katie.

“Really?” Mike asked Bill.

“The contractors did it,” said Bill. “They said the windows made them uncomfortable and offered to replace them at the end of the job if I let them nail ‘em shut.”

“That must have been a strange outfit,” commented Mike.

“We’re going in for our shots now,” said Leslie, standing with her producer and camera man at the entrance to the garage. “Would you care to give us a tour?” she asked Bill.

“Sure, no problem,” replied Bill. He looked down at his his worn jeans and t-shirt. “Should I change?”

“You won’t be on camera,” said Leslie. “You just show me around and I’ll do the rest.”

Bill kept his eyes locked on the newswoman, but Mike saw Leslie’s producer roll his eyes slightly.

When Mike and Katie were finally alone in the garage, Mike sat down on a stool and sighed.

“What was that thing you signed?” asked Katie.

“It was a contract that Bill had his lawyer draw up,” answered Mike. He rolled his head around, trying to find relief from the stress building up in his neck. “Part non-disclosure for the technology of the amplifier, and some language about how we can’t seek damages if any of our equipment gets destroyed on his property. Also some stuff about how we won’t destroy his property through negligence. Standard stuff.”

“Standard? What about any of this is standard?” she laughed.

“True,” Mike smiled. “I think he was just trying to cover his bases.”

“Anything financial?”

“Not really,” answered Mike. “Nothing I saw, at least. Honestly, I really don’t think that Bill is trying to profit off this whole thing, he just wants his house back.”

“I think Bill tries to profit from anything he does,” commented Katie. “We really haven’t talked financials either.”

“How’s that?” asked Mike, rolling his neck again and scratching his head.

“Well if you end up profiting, what about me and Gary?”

“Oh, I won’t profit. I’m not in it for the money. Someone else will end up making all the money. That’s just the way it is with scientific breakthroughs. I remember when I was a grad student, the professors used me like slave labor. They push, and push, and then they never made a dime. I didn’t have a chance. A step down from nothing is less than nothing. I was lucky I didn’t owe them money at the end of a project.”

“So Gary and I get less than nothing?” asked Katie.

“No, no, I didn’t mean you guys,” said Mike. “I was just saying that’s the way it was when I was in school. You guys are in this for your own reasons, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said Katie. “Hey, don’t forget, Gary wants to show you something.”

“Yes, yes,” said Mike, pushing himself up from the stool dramatically. “The boss’s work is never done.”

Katie watched him leave the garage and folded her arms.

“GARY,” SAID MIKE as he climbed into the van. “What’s up?”

“I’m trying to work in the new numbers,” said Gary. “Give me a second.”

At the front of the cargo area, Gary had folded down the small table and propped a laptop open with a map on the display. He typed coordinates from a piece of scrap paper into the application.

“Yup, it aligns,” said Gary.

“What’s that?” asked Mike.

“Okay, let me start at the beginning,” said Gary. He zoomed out the map display revealing a view of New Hampshire and scrolled over to the Maine coast. “You remember our first couple experiments with the new instruments? How we saw that big bias point to the west?”