Sally was watching Return of the Jedi for the forty-third time when the phone rang. She had all of the dialog memorized and mouthed most of it along with the movie. She picked up the receiver and held it up to her ear.
“Only now, in the end, do you truly understand the power of the dark side,” she said into the phone.
“Hey,” the voice on the other end said. “Empire Strikes Back?”
“Get a clue,” Sally corrected, “Return of the Jedi.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Hey Cin. What’s up?” Sally paused the tape.
“John called me.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, he’s got something he wants to show us.”
Sally smiled, “I’ll bet he does.”
“No, really. He said it was a laser beam, or something.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, this guy he knows that goes to college in Denver, he brought a laser over to John’s place.”
“Laser?” Sally was not convinced.
“Yeah, John said you’d think it was cool cause it looks like one of those light sword things in Star Wars.”
“A light saber?”
“That’s it. A light saber.”
Now Sally was intrigued, “You’re telling me John has a light saber at his apartment?”
“That’s what he said.”
Sally thought how very cool it would be if it were true, but of coarse there was no such thing.
“You’re sure that John didn’t just have crack for breakfast, right?”
“I don’t know. Ask him yourself. I’ll be there to pick you up in fifteen minutes. Bye.” She hung up.
Sally pushed the rewind button on the remote until it got back to the duel between Luke and Vader. She paused it again. She stood there looking at a freeze frame of Darth Vader, holding a glowing red sword.
"It can’t be true. Can it?"
John’s full of it. He’s just trying to get us over to his apartment. There’s no light saber. If they did exist, there certainly would not be one sitting at John’s apartment.
She sat down to watch the rest of the movie. Cindy knocked on the door about twenty minutes later.
They went out to the Chevy Nova with the cracked windshield and dented bumper.
“You’re gonna get a ticket driving that heap around.”
“I know, but I have to wait till Monday to get it fixed.”
Sally looked closer at the big cracks in the glass, “Let’s take my car.”
Cindy was hoping she’d say that. They got in Sally’s Volkswagen Bug and headed over to John’s.
After five flights of steps, Sally was huffing and puffing.
“Why don’t they...” she paused for a moment to take another deep gasp, “...put a goddamn elevator in this place?”
Cindy had a membership at the local gym. She took aerobics on Mondays and Thursdays. Since she started a year ago, she hadn’t missed one class. She did a little dance at the top of the stairs to show Sally that she still had energy to burn. Sally was panting hard when she walked by.
“Show off.”
“You really should quit smoking.” She said smiling, snapping her sugar free gum.
“I was thinking maybe we could just get John to move to the ground floor.”
The girls went down the hall to number 608. Sally’s rings made a clack sound on the door when she knocked. A faint “come in” was heard through the guitar solo on the radio. When they opened the door John was picking up a pair of dirty underwear off the floor.
“Hey. Sorry about the mess.”
The dishes piled in the sink stood like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Empty candy wrappers, beer bottles, and crusty silverware littered the coffee table. There was a strange smell coming from the bathroom.
John was a slob and everyone knew it. Sally wouldn’t have been there at all if he hadn’t clamed having a light saber. She just hoped that she wouldn’t have to use his bathroom. She did not want to learn the origin of the smell.
It was obvious that John was excited. He motioned for them to follow him into his bedroom.
“Come on.”
They reluctantly followed him into the dark little room.
On the desk sat the object they came to see. It was a long, skinny metal enclosure, at least five feet long. Each end extended off the sides of the desk. It was topped with a hinged piece of plexiglass. Inside on one end was a flashlight shaped unit held down with a thick metal clamp. There was a bundle of wires running out that end, and down to a thin black box on the floor.
Sally was unimpressed, “That’s it?”
“Yep,” he said, flipping a toggle switch up on the box.
A little yellow light came on. Then he closed the plexiglass lid. He was grinning.
“Ready?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Cindy’s eyes were wide. He pushed a button on the flashlight unit. It popped, snapped and finally buzzed on. A thick red beam shot out the front of it. It extended all the way to the end of the box enclosure, about four and a half feet. It didn’t hum like a light saber. It could better be described as a buzz. Sally almost fell over backwards. The beam of light looked exactly like in the movie. It was also her favorite color.
Red.
Just like Darth Vader’s. The crimson light reflected off of John’s face, giving him a menacing visage.
“The box is just for safety. So somebody doesn’t start a fire or something.”
Cindy wanted to see the long box more closely. She clicked the switch on the wall. The overhead light came on and the ceiling fan began to spin. Sally could not believe her eyes. She’d imagined having one of those since she first saw the Empire Strikes Back eleven years ago.
“Can we open the top?”
“I can do better than that,” John turned it off and opened the clamp.
“He made me promise I wouldn’t do this.”
“But you’re doing it anyway,” Cindy backed up nervously.
“Of course,” he pulled the wires and lifted out the unit through a slot in the metal. It looked just like a flashlight with a bunch of wires coming out the bottom. They all connected to the box on the floor. It was now totally separated from the enclosure.
“Okay. This thing is friggin’ dangerous so don’t come any closer than you are now. And for God’s sake don’t try to touch it.”
Both girls were standing with their backs against the wall. Cindy made sure she was closest to the door, just in case. He pushed the button once again, and it came to life. The buzzing was louder now. The red light reflected off of John’s fingers as he gently moved it back and forth. For a moment Sally couldn’t speak. She couldn’t move. Her mouth was gaping open and her bubble yum rolled off her tongue and fell onto the carpet.
It can’t be real.
But it was. Right there in front of her. He was wearing cut off faded blue jeans, a Mettalica T-shirt, and standing in a pile of dirty towels and underwear. And it was the most amazing thing she had ever seen. Cindy stood ready to run out the door if he accidentally lit the place on fire.
“It has to stay connected to the power supply, but you can wear that like a backpack,” John was looking at the black box on the floor.
Sally saw that it had shoulder straps and a belt to go around the waist.
“Let me hold it,” she said finally.
“I don’t know, I…”
“Come on. You invited me, remember? I’ll be careful.”
“Alright, but don’t swing it around or anything.”
He turned it off and handed it to Sally. She stood over in the center of the room, and John backed up next to Cindy. She pushed the button and the red beam buzzed in front of her. At that moment she was no longer Sally Benton who worked at the bookstore and lived in Canon City. She was Sally, the Jedi knight, master of the force, cruising through space on her enormous starship.
Vader is on this ship. I can feel it. I must go confront him. Enemy troops are invading the ship. In pour a sea of white clad storm troopers. Blaster fire everywhere…
Sally had one foot out in front of the other, knees bent, and held the sword to the side with both hands in strike position. Her eyes lit up with the power of the force.
Cindy was laughing, “Strike a pose, girlfriend.”
It was making John nervous, “Careful Sal.”
And then Sally let out a battle cry that shook the windows, “AAAHH!”
She raised the saber up over her head and the beam caught all four blades on the ceiling fan as it spun. It cut through them like soft butter. The pieces of severed plastic went flying across the room and one of them hit John in the nose.
“OOWW, Goddammit!”
Another piece struck the wall, scratching the paint. Sally’s fantasy ended when she realized that she was ruining John’s chance of getting his security deposit back. She quickly lowered her weapon and saw him doubled over in pain. Looking up she saw the melted white plastic stubs where the blades were so rudely chopped.
“I’m sorry John. Are you okay?”
John raised up holding his nose, “You’re gonna kill somebody. Turn it off!”
She lowered the sword to try to find the off button. The blade dipped into the pile of towels and underwear. A pair of Fruit of the Looms caught fire.
“Shit!” Sally said pushing the button.
The thick beam of light disappeared into the handle. A melting elastic smell wafted up from John’s burning briefs.
John ripped the laser handle out of her hand and gently set it back in its place.
“Dammit Sally,” his voice was high pitched and frustrated.
She stomped out the fire with her boot, embarrassed, “Sorry.”
Cindy was in the other room. “Are you guys done killing each other?”
He looked at Sally, “Well, she’s done killing me.”
“I’ll buy you a new fan. I promise.”
John sat down at the desk.
“What I was about to say, before being interrupted,” he said looking at Sally, “was that Tom, the guy who brought this here, said that somebody was trying to steal this.”
Cindy stared at the purple line across the bridge of his nose.
“Who?”
“He said some guys from a company that had contracts with the government.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. They offered him a million dollars for the laser, but he turned them down.”
“Is he nuts?” Cindy would do just about anything for that much money.
“He’s not nuts. This is cutting edge technology. It’s worth a hell of a lot more than that.”
“And he says that he designed this? Why are you so sure that he didn’t steal it?” Sally couldn’t believe that any guy John knew was that smart.
“I’m positive. The guy’s a genius.”
“Yeah? Well if they want it so bad, why don’t they just offer him more money?”
“He said he doesn’t want to sell it yet, for any price. He’s not done testing it. And when he is ready he wants to go to the media and make a name for himself. He’s already guaranteed to be rich from it.”
“But he wants the credit for it too.” Sally was starting to understand.
“Right.”
Cindy was confused, “There are already lasers out there. Why would this one be worth so much money?”
“Because it’s a new kind of laser. That technology sitting right there has all kinds of uses.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Military stuff, I guess.”
“Why doesn’t he just go to the police?”
“Because these guys work for the government. The police would confiscate it and they would say that he stole it from them. They’d still win.”
“So he turned them down, and now they’re trying to steal it?”
“Yeah. They broke into the lab at his college. They trashed his house, and now they’re following him.”
“How did they find out about it anyway?”
“He doesn’t know.”
There was a knock at the door. John went to answer it.
“Close that door. I don’t want anybody else to know I’ve got that thing.”
The girls stayed in the bedroom and shut the door. The crazy story amused them. They both just sat and stared at the laser.
When John opened the door, there were two men standing in the hallway. They were both wearing black suits with black ties. All four eyes were covered with dark Ray Ban sunglasses.
“We are with the FBI. I’m agent Jones, this is agent Thompson.”
Neither of them showed any kind of identification. John was suddenly very nervous.
“We are looking for Thomas Reed. Do you know him?”
John’s pulse raced. He didn’t know what to say.
You can’t lie to the FBI, can you?
But maybe they weren’t. Maybe they were lying. That would sure fit in with Tom’s story. The girls were listening through the door.
Cindy whispered, “Oh, shit, what do we do?”
Sally was already strapping the power box to her back, “Cindy, we can’t let them get this. We have to take it and get out of here.”
Cindy’s whisper was panting, “Where could we go? The only way out is through those guys.”
Sally was eyeing the window and Cindy knew it.
“No way. I’m not climbing out no fucking window.”
The so-called FBI was waiting for an answer.
John said finally, “Yes, I know him.”
As soon as the words came off his tongue, he knew he should have lied. The tall man in the front reached into his coat and pulled out a nine-millimeter handgun. Before John had a chance to take another breath it was pointed at his face.
“Shit!” John turned pale and thought he might pass out.
“Shut up punk. Where is it?”
The second suit guy started trashing the place.
“Where’s what?” John’s voice was weak and shaky.
Suit number one pressed the barrel of the pistol hard against John’s forehead. “Do you want to die?”
A tearful “no” was heard through John’s erratic breath.
“Then tell me were the laser is, shitbag.”
Maybe those guys were thieves, maybe they’d use the technology to blow up some poor country. Maybe his friend Tom wouldn’t get rich after all, but John wasn’t going to die protecting it. Screw it. They could have the damn thing.
“It’s in the bedroom.”
When suit number two opened the door he saw the window was open. The screen had been taken off and it was sitting on the floor. He looked down at the desk. The long black case with the Plexiglas top was still there, empty. He ran over and stumbled on the pile of scorched underwear. The red pair was still smoking. He kicked them across the room. Leaning out the window, he looked down and saw two girls quickly making their way down the fire escape. He grabbed the case and ran out.
“There's two girls getting away with the laser, come on.”
Suit number one punched John hard in the face. He fell into the coffee table. With his lip bleeding, he looked up and both men were gone.
“Goddammit Sally. What do you think you’re doin’?”
The girls climbed down the bottom of the fire escape and jumped to the ground.
“Run,” Sally said panting.
“But what about the car...”
“Run, dammit, run!”
They took off on foot. They were all the way down at the next block when the suits got to the road. Main Street was only another block away and Sally was running toward it as fast as she could go. The box strapped to her back was hard and uncomfortable.
Cindy, twenty feet in front of her was shouting, “Hurry!”
When they got to the corner of fifth and main, the suits were in a Lincoln Continental, and right behind them. They ducked into Dragon’s Lair, a video arcade. The place was jammed full of kids. They went to the back of the arcade, past the pool tables, and found a pay phone.
“Watch the door,” Sally whispered, “And gimmie a quarter.”
Cindy pried the change out of her tight blue jeans.
“I’ve got to call John, to see if he’s alright.”
It rang three times before he picked up.
“Hello?”
“Jesus. John are you alright?”
“Yeah. Where are you guys?”
“At the arcade.”
“Did you loose ‘em?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“That fucker punched me. I should’ve kicked his ass.”
“Get the hell out of there. They might come back.”
“Good Idea. Where can I hook up with you guys?”
Sally thought for a moment, “That’s not a good idea. Look, I’ve got my pager with me. Find that Tom guy and tell him what happened. Maybe he’ll know what to do. Page me after that.”
“But Sal, I think you should...”
Suit number two walked into the arcade, scanning the room.
“Gotta go John.” She hung up.
They ducked down behind the Ms. Pac Man machine.
Cindy was shaking, “What do we do now?”
“Bathroom.”
“What?”
“Bathroom.”
The ladies room was not five feet away. They dashed inside. They were the only ones there. Sally searched for another way out. There weren’t any other doors. No windows either.
“Get in a stall and lock it.”
There were four stalls and Cindy and Sally got into the last two. Cindy sat on the toilet, crying. Sally’s head popped up from behind the metal partition.
“Quit crying, and pick up your feet! Do you want him to see us?”
Cindy crossed her legs Indian style on the toilet just as the bathroom door creaked open. Both girls held their breath. Hard soled shoes clacked on the tile floor and then stopped at the first stall. They heard the door slap open. The shoes clacked to the second stall, the door opened. The clacking stopped at the third stall. Cindy almost screamed, but somehow held herself back. She could see the black pant legs and cowboy boots under the door. He pushed on it, but it didn’t budge. Cindy had latched it. For a moment they didn’t hear anything. And then a loud thunk as he kicked the door in. Cindy screamed. He stood there, glaring at her.
“Where’s your friend, Bitch?”
She scrambled backwards against the wall, but there was nowhere to go.
“Sally!” she screamed.
He moved in closer, “I said where is she.”
She could feel his hot breath on her face. A click and a buzzing noise was heard from the next stall. Before he could turn to look, the laser blade rammed through the metal stall and pierced the next wall over. It had missed his nose by no more than one inch.
He jumped back, “Jesus!”
Sally was standing on the toilet looking down at him.
“You looking for me?” She said with her teeth clenched.
She pulled the sword up through the metal and was surprised at how easy it was to cut. She hopped down off the commode and waved the beam in the suit's face.
“Don’t move or I’ll...cut your balls off.”
Cindy got behind Sally and they backed out up to the door. The man reached inside his jacket for his gun. Both of them screamed and ran out.
“Come on.”
Sally ran to the back door of the arcade. They darted out to the alley before he saw where they went. The man shoved his way out to the front door. Neither girl was in sight. He growled “Shit,” and kicked over a trashcan.
Sally realized that the laser was still on. She turned it off and kept running. Two blocks down, the back door to Kate’s bar was open. They went inside.
“Let’s stay in here for awhile.” Sally sat down at a table in the back.
“I think we lost him,” Cindy said watching the front door.
Sally unclipped the waist strap and took the battery off her back.
“That thing gets heavy after a while.”
Cindy sat down, “What the hell do we do now?”
“Those bastards are all over this place. We’ve gotta get out of town.”
“What? I have to work on Monday. And so do you.”
“Call in sick, this is too important.”
“Important? We don’t even know if that Tom guy is telling the truth!”
“Well, we do know that those guys aren’t FBI. That asshole in the bathroom was gonna kick your ass. The FBI doesn’t do that.”
“Yeah, well I don’t care who they are. I don’t want to know. I just want out of this.”
“I say we wait till dark, and sneak back to my car. My cousin lives in Denver. We can stay with her until John pages me.”
“Denver? No way. I’ll wait with you till it gets dark, but then that’s it. I’m going home.”
“Okay, fine.”
“Good.”
The girls ordered drinks and waited. Cindy watched the front door. Sally watched the back. There were a couple of guys across the bar playing pool. One of them was trying to jump the eight ball to sink the three. The cue ball flew off the table and rolled over to Sally’s feet. It looked just like a Ping-Pong ball.
copyright ©2002 Brian Holtz
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