The Reincarnation

John remained tied up. He felt abandoned, and struggled with the ropes that bound his hands. He now realized that he was dependent on David to live. He was pretty sure that if David died, he would die, too. The only energy he could muster flowed directly from David. He could feel it, and it confirmed what he now believed; without David, he wouldn’t be alive at all. What he had of life wasn’t much, but it was all he had, and he planned to hold onto it.

David and the women came back to the camp. “How’s it going, John?”

“Not too good, as you can see.”

David knelt down. “I’m sorry, John. I had no idea this kind of thing was possible.”

“Well, that doesn’t change it.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Who’s this Victor Grey guy you were talking about – is he trying to kill you?”

“I don’t think he’ll kill me, but he’ll probably take Laura and Donna out if he has to.”

“He’s the authority?”

“You could say that.”

“Well, I don’t know if I can be of any help, but if you need me, I’m here.”

“Thanks. That’s good to know.”

“Won’t you untie me? I feel like a prisoner.”

David looked at John for a long moment, thinking about his dream, then spoke slowly. “I’m still a little spooked about this morning.” He paused. “If I untied you, John, what would you do? And I don’t mean immediately, but long term. What do you want to do with your life? Have you thought about that at all?”

“No. I only seem able to entertain one thought at a time. First it was finding out what happened to me. Then it was finding you. And my mind seems to get blanker every day. Right now it’s tough to even find the words to speak. It’s like my mind is disappearing more every minute, along with my eyesight – everything is a blur.” John turned to David with a sudden request. “If you won’t untie me, will you at least shut me off? I feel humiliated this way.”

“You got it.” David pulled back his energy from John and John went limp.

As Donna prepared lunch, David asked her, “What was that comment about Eco-Assassins earlier? I read something about them at some point.”

“Well, you won’t find anyone admitting to it, but a lot of us really, secretly, like what they’re doing. They go right to the root of the problem, so to speak. No one’s admitted to helping them out, but a lot of us see a certain surety in what they do. I mean, if you’re mad at a company for knowingly polluting a river in the name of profit, why not shoot the bastard who’s in charge of it, the guy giving the orders? Makes sense on a lot of levels.” She handed David a cold falafel sandwich, which he quickly started munching as he listened to her continue. They sat on the ground.

“The Movement stays away from killing people, even our enemies. But the Eco-Assassins’ logic rings some bells in our heads. For example, the first guy they ever took out – this was decades ago, you were probably alive then – had bought the largest ancient cedar forest in the world with junk bonds. To pay off the takeover debt, he cut down almost all of the forest. Before that, the company had been logging the forest sustainably.” She handed Laura a sandwich as she finished making her own. Laura held it, not eating it.

“This guy blitzed this sleepy, undervalued old company, and in his first meeting with his new employees, he told them, ‘There’s a story about the golden rule. He who has the gold, rules.’ Does a guy like that deserve to live? I don’t know. I guess the Eco-Assassins just got sick of protests and demonstrations and boycotts – can you blame them?”

“Are they still around – still active?”

“Yes, and no. I mean, I don’t know. Lots of people picked up on their idea. There were a lot of copy-cats. Now, it’s hard to tell who actually still does it. It might be the original Eco-Assassins, it may be somebody emulating them. It’s never clear from what the media reports.”

David took this in, then looked at John, still in his bonds. “What are we going to do with him?” he asked, pointing.

“I don’t know. It’s terrible,” Laura answered. “Poor guy wakes up one morning with nothing. And no way to get his life back.”

“Should I untie him, let him loose?”

“He seems pretty harmless. Why not?” Donna said.

“Yeah, he probably won’t try anything,” David answered.

“Listen, guys, I’ve been thinking some pretty horrible thoughts.” Donna and David turned to face Laura, her sandwich untouched.

“Such as?” David asked.

“Well, look at John. He’s as good as dead. What if the Lab decides to go ahead with their experiments? What happens then? I’m not twenty-five yet. I could have been him, if you know what I mean. The next patient the Lab defrosts could take my soul – or yours,” she said, pointing to Donna.

“Christ, you’re right. What have we been thinking?” David asked, slapping his forehead with his palm. “But what can we do?”

“We have to go back to the Lab. Stop them before it’s too late.”

“Hello!” Donna said, waving her hand. “We’re talking about the Church here. How do you propose we stop them?”

David sat back, dejected.

“The computer system,” Laura said.

Donna and David turned to look at her.

“It’s the Achilles’ heel of the Lab. Aside from Dr. Persey’s head, it’s the only place the procedure he used to defrost David is stored. He gave me the password to it. It’s in a secure room in the basement.”

“Judging from your daring rescue, security’s not too tight there, huh?” David asked.

“It’s nonexistent.”

“We could sneak you in,” Donna said excitedly, getting up and waving her car keys.