JAA Ch. 05: R E R U N

Shelly was standing next to me as I took the serum from the little fridge we had in the office. I opened the case and took the syringe from the case and put the case back in the fridge. Then I went to the small locked drug cabinet we had there and got a vile of a clear liquid from the top shelf marked vitamins. As I was pushing the needle into the vile, the woman hopped off the table, pulling a gun from her purse.

"Hold it right there doctor, I'll take that vile," she waved the gun at me.

"It's only vitamins here let me get what you really want, morphine, it's in the cabinet..."

"No, that's what I want, now hand it over or I'll shoot you and your wife."

Her husband came bursting in, gun drawn, flashing an ID at us. The ID was from the DEA.

"Hand it over doc or else."

I calmly handed the woman the vile and stepped back.

"Now do you have any more?"

"Any more vitamins, yes the cabinet is full of vitamins, drugs of all kinds but I have a license for all of them, both my wife and I are Doctors."

"You know what we're after and this better be it or we will be back."

"I am afraid to disappoint you, but you'll see and then, I guess we'll see you, but next time, just knock, we'll be glad to let you in, and the same goes for my office." I smiled at him as he frowned.

He took the bottle from the woman and read the label, then dropped it in his pocket. Looking disgusted, he stormed out of the house, the woman trailing him. Susie was sitting in the living room shaking as we came out of the back room. I sat beside her, putting my arm around her. Shelly sank to her knees in front of her, took her hands and held them until she calmed down.

"I was afraid of this. I'm sorry Susie, really I am," I told Shelly's friend and colleague.

"I know you are John, I know," Susie replied. "We have to do something, something they won't expect."

"She's right," Shelly said.

"Too many secrets," I muttered.

"What?" they both asked.

"Old movie reference, never mind, I think I have an answer. I have a few friends I need to see."

"Who, I know all your friends," Shelly looked at me funny.

"You don't know these friends, my dear. These friends I have sheltered you from, but you would probably like them." Her eyes widened, I smiled at her.

"I called Miles, everything is fine at home," Susie told us as she snapped her cell phone shut. I was glad I invested in cell phone stock when I did and jumped out a year later. I laughed at that thought and the women looked at me as if I was crazy. I shook my head, picked up our phone and dialed.

Chapter 8

Three weeks later, I was in my office catching up on paperwork. The door to my office opened and in walked a man. He was of average build, average height, average in every way. He calmly took a seat in front of me and waited. I smiled at him as he pulled a gun from under his average looking suit coat. I laughed as I pointed to the camera on my desk and turned my computer screen so he could see himself. He saw himself on the screen from four different angles. Twisting and turning he found each of the cameras pointed at him.

"Now that you know you are being watched, what is your plan? I should let you know that my home is wired, my wife's office is wired, our cars are wired. Wherever we go, the public watches us. If you look down at the bottom of the screen, you can see the number of computers streaming this feed. It's over a million and rising. That's millions of people watching you pull a gun on a defenseless man, a man who happens to be a doctor, the doctor, who has the cure for cancer, all cancers."

The man with the gun halted for just a second then pointed the gun at me and pulled the trigger. As blackness quickly closed in, I heard a second shot ring out and felt his body hit the floor. At least I would get another chance something he wouldn't.

Chapter 9

I woke on the mattress as it lowered me to ground level. This time I didn't sit up until it stopped moving, scared the crap out of all the people gathered around to check me over. Lisa was there as I looked around.

"John, what happened this time?"

"I died again."

"How long after we sent you back did you die?"

"Thirty wonderful years," I sighed wistfully.

"Oh, then it worked?"

"Oh yes, it worked wonderfully. When can I do it again?"

"In a week, we need to debrief you."

"Right, let's get started then. Meet you in the conference room after I get dressed."

"Sure, why not, get it down while it's still fresh in your mind."

Twenty minutes later, I was in the conference room telling ten people my life story. Lisa interrupted a couple of times to ask a question to clarify a point. The first one was when I told her of my decision not to live my life the same. She asked if I had any trouble not doing the same thing over. I told her no, no trouble at all.

The next time she asked a question was when I told her about the cure for cancer my company had developed. She wanted me to write down the formula for the serum. I did and continued with my story.

"Lisa, I have a question for you. Is this company working for the government?"

"No John, the president of this company and the board of directors have forbidden this company to take any government contracts."

"Ah, that's good then. That formula cost me my life and possibly my wife's life as well. The company I started back then took all the government contracts it could. There was money, tons of money in government contracts. Unfortunately, they owned the research and resultant findings."

"What are you saying, John?"

"We found the cure to many of the diseases that afflict people today and the government took them and hid them away. They asked us to find the cure, but really didn't expect us to find them."

"That can't be," Lisa exclaimed.

"It is, was, might even be going on now. Tell me is there a research firm, a medical research firm in the Chicago Metro Area call Abernathy Medical Research, here and now?"

Lisa typed in a query on her laptop. Her eyes widened as her eyes snapped to look at me. She turned the computer so I could read the results. There was only one entry listed on the screen. One.

"We might want to have a look into this."

"Yes, we might. You don't John. We have people to do this kind of work. You are on vacation for the next week. I want you to take a week away from here. Go find yourself a nice warm beach and a dark-skinned girl and have fun. Clear?"

"Yes, Miss Hardesty."

"John, don't you get snarky with me."

"I'm sorry. Okay, okay, I'll go lie on the beach for a week."

And that's what I did.

Chapter 10

I was back on the gel mattress the Monday after I returned from my little vacation. They briefed me on what they extrapolated, from descriptions of what I did in the past, as far as what changes I had effected. It was true that I could and had changed my history while I was back in my past, but the minute I died, those changes disappeared. Even though the companies I mentioned and the one I ran were a result of my past, they existed in this timeline too.

So why were they sending me back again? Well, I had been the success story in their experiment. They wanted to see if I could affect permanent changes to the timeline and there was the little matter of my death to avoid. I told them I would try and I was going to do as they asked. You see, I now had memories of two lifetimes in my head. Were they difficult to sort out? No, because they were linear as far as I was concerned. They had happened one after the other, not side by side.

The lights were flashing, the hum was disappearing, and I was back. Again, I was between the thighs of Dee. I smiled as my orgasm washed over me and Dee squirmed under me. I did everything the same as the last time except, for taking government money for my research. You see I still had, in my memory, the formula for three or four of the cures for diseases that existed on our fair planet.

As a private research company, I now had the freedom to not only discover said cures but to make and market them. I was not out to soak the American public. I never announced the discoveries, I just gave them to Shelly and they started using them. They had all gone through the FDA, the AMA and all the other blah, blah A's in the country and passed all their tests.

One day a gentleman who said he was from the DEA and was there to do a license inspection visited me. I walked him through our facility showed him our research labs, our manufacturing area, and the offices. He asked to see our licenses for keeping drugs on the premises. I explained we did not keep drugs, as defined by the DEA on the premise. He said he just saw us making drugs. I smiled at him and said prove it.

He told me he could have fifty agents here in ten minutes to search the place and confiscate any and all suspected drugs. Then shut us down until tests, of the suspected drugs, were run. I just smiled and told him I would have every news organization here in five minutes and would invite them in for a tour of our research facility and announce that the DEA wants' to shut down the lab that had just found the cure for cancer. We hadn't yet, but I did have the formula and a test batch of the serum.

He hemmed and hawed trying to bully me as he said I couldn't do that if I was under investigation. I just laughed in his face as two of my security people appeared at his side. He was shown the way out none too gently. I hustled back to my office and called Shelly. When she answered the phone, I told her it was time. She said she would meet me at the convention center in twenty minutes. I made one other phone call and left the office.

Chapter 11

I was standing at the podium, camera flashes were twinkling as I stood waiting for the live news organizations to give the signal they were ready. Shelly stood by my side. Behind me were ten people and ten doctors. At the doors were guarded by the local police and the chief of police. The mayor sat on the stage, with the city council behind him. I was given the signal and I started.

"You might wonder who I am. I am Doctor John Abernathy and I am the head of the Abernathy Medical Research Laboratory. The beautiful woman next to me is my wife, Doctor Shelly Abernathy. So far this past decade we have found cures for diabetes, epilepsy, MS and cancer. We also hope to have a cure for AIDS within the month."

I stopped to let the shouting of questions to die down from the reporters.

"On this stage are ten people, who have all been cured by one of our serums. On the table in front are their medical histories, which they have freely allowed us to use. They have all pledged to spread the word of our cures. Among the papers on the table is the formula for each cure. Yes, we are giving this to the people of the world free of charge.

"Also in those papers are the costs to make the serums, printed to keep the future manufactures honest. Yes, we hold patents on all the formula and processes and freely allow all those who wish, to manufacture the serums. We only require a one percent royalty on each sale. So, the cost of the cure for cancer is twenty-two dollars plus the markup plus our one percent. The retail cost for the cure for cancer, that would be a ten cc vial, should be no more than thirty dollars."

I stopped again to let them shout questions. It took them five minutes to quiet down.

"A ten cc vial will cure twenty people. One dose of point five cc's is all that is needed. The cost at the doctor's office should be no more than a buck fifty plus the office visit.

"Everything else you need to know is in the packets on the table."

The clamor of questions began again.

Chapter 12

There was a commotion at the entrance and everyone turned at the noise. Looking up I saw the agent who had been at my office this morning.

Every camera turned to point at the dumbfounded agent restrained by police. Other men pushed through the police line, men wearing jackets with DEA Agent emblazoned across the front. They stopped as every reporter in the room started to fire questions at them and flashes started popping in their eyes. I just stood on the stage with Shelly smiling. A gentleman from the group of patients we had cured stepped forward and begging my pardon, pushed me from in front of the microphone.

"You!" he shouted. "Yes you, the dumbass that first came in here. Do you know who I am?" The agent nodded his head. "You do? Then you had better explain yourself, agent or you will be sniffing for drugs on our northernmost borders and I don't mean the Canadian."

The gentleman waited as the mayor signaled the police to let him come up to the stage.

"Right there is fine, agent. Just stand here and tell all these people and me why you are here?"

The agent just stood there staring up at the gentleman next to me. The silence in the auditorium, broken only by the clicks of cameras, stretched out for seconds. The man standing at the podium stared down at the agent, his face getting darker and darker as each second of silence ticked by.

"Sir, I'm sorry I can't tell you that, it's classified."

"What?" his bellow echoed around the room and I swear dust floated down from the rafters.

"Sir, I am not at liberty to divulge..."

"You!" the man shouted, pointing at another agent. "Get your ass up here mister."

The agent he pointed at ran up to the stage halting beside his boss.

"Do you know who I am, agent?"

"Yes, sir, but I only know we are here to stop the sale and distribution of drugs. Any other reason Agent Smith never told us."

"I see. You name son?"

"James Morgan, sir."

"Agent Morgan, as you can see there are no drugs here nor is anyone selling them, you are now in charge of that rabble that accompanied you, take them back to Headquarters. Leave Agent Smith here."

"Yes sir," Agent Morgan turned and headed back to the doors, waving the rest of the DEA agents back.

"Mayor Ellis can you have your Chief and four men come down here to disarm this man and place him under arrest."

"Sure can J..."

"You can't arrest me! I'm a federal agent and have committed no crime."

"Shut up Smith, if that's your real name. I can do what I want, anytime I want, to you. You got that. And, until you tell me what the hell you think you're doing, you will stay locked up in this town's jail until hell freezes over. Got it?"

Smith stood mute while police officers disarmed him and placed him in cuffs.

"Agent Smith, are you going to tell me now?"

"I can't sir..."

"You will tell me, in the long run, it would be better if you told me now instead of later. Doctors Abernathy, I will get to the bottom of this along with the Mayor and his Chief, I promise."

"You can't sir..."

"I can and you know I can."

"Yes, sir, but under Title fifteen-fifteen, you can't."

"Don't quote titles to me, Smith. Chief take him away. Lock him up and keep him locked up no matter what or who comes looking for him. If anyone tries to present you with any papers, state, federal or otherwise you show them this." He took a blank sheet of paper from my notebook and wrote something in longhand. Then he signed it, folded it in half and handed it to the chief. He turned to the Mayor nodding then turned back to the reporters.

Chapter 13

"Ladies, gentlemen, you all know who I am, but for your viewers who may not know, I am Justice Robert L. Stevens, Supreme Court Justice Stevens. I promise to get to the bottom of what you have just witnessed if my staff is watching I want to start an investigation as soon as possible. I will now turn the proceedings back to Doctor Abernathy, who, by the way, I want to thank for allowing me to live for a while longer. Thank you, Doctor and you too Doctor. Thank you very much."

He stepped back from the podium. I stepped forward looking back over my shoulder.

"It is not necessary to thank me, Justice Stevens. I was just doing my job. A job I decided to do when I graduated high school. Just as I'm sure you do your job because it is a job you feel you have to do."

Justice Stevens smiled at me nodding. I turned back to the reporters and smiled.

"I was actually finished before Agent Smith barged in and disrupted our little get together. So if you have any question for me or the patients and doctors behind me, please go about them in an orderly fashion." I stepped back and Shelly stepped up to the mic.

The clamor began. Shelly just smiled looking over the crowd. She waited until they quieted down, then pointed at one of the reporters by a camera.

"Doctor Abernathy, how proud of your husband, are you?" It was a setup question.

"I am very proud of him as you would expect. He is a wonderful and intelligent man."

She pointed at another reporter. The questions finally died down about an hour later. By that time there were at least four FBI agents gathered around Justice Stevens along with the head of the Justice Department Greg Banner. I stepped up to the podium again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have started hearing the same question for a second time. So, we will end this now, thank you for coming and I hope the next press conference I hold won't be as exciting. Thank you."

I grabbed Shelly's hand and walked away from the podium. The Mayor signaled his ranking officer and the reporters and others were herded out of the conference center. As we approached Justice Stevens, one of the FBI agents started to stop us.

"Agent Brown let them pass," Justice Stevens said softly.

Agent Brown smiled then let us pass. Shelly preceded me and went to Stevens' side. She started to check his vitals. Justice Stevens tried to shake her off but Shelly was tenacious and continued to check her patient. Robert finally gave in settling back in the chair and let Shelly check him over. When done she stood looking down at him and smiled.

"You're okay Bob, but do take it easy please?"

"I will Shelly, I will. John, I'm sorry about this. It seems Smith doesn't even work for the Justice Department. We're still waiting on a fingerprint match, but that too may be futile."

"Bob, no need to be sorry, it's not your fault."

"That doesn't matter Greg and I have known for some time that there is something rotten in Denmark. Ah, I see you know the reference. We'll get to the bottom of this though."

"Even if it involves the Executive branch? Or Congress?"

"Yes, because without the checks and balances of the three branches there is no Union. And Justice has the manpower."

"Then Shelly and I will leave you to it, Bob. Just remember it's not long since you were cured, so please be careful."

"I will. Agent Brown, you're with them."

I nodded and taking Shelly's hand walked out of the Convention Center. Agent Brown ran ahead and commandeered two police officers to help him escort us to our cars. We decided to leave Shelly's here and climbed into mine Agent Brown climbed in the front passenger seat after helping Shelly in the back seat. As I turned the key in the ignition there was a sharp, loud clap of thunder. Everything went black in an instant.

I woke on the mattress as it slowly went down, again. I just kept my eyes closed as I shook my head in despair. Lisa was waiting at the bottom of the room as I opened my eyes.

"What happened this time?"

"Same result. I died. Bastards, this time my wife was with me when it happened."

"We'll debrief in an hour."

"Great. But no week off this time, I want a quick turn around this time. I think I'm going to try something just a little different."

"Okay, tomorrow morning good enough?"

"Yes." I slid out the side of the platform landing on my feet and walked out of the room.

Chapter 14

Again, I was lying on the gel mattress as it rose into the air. The lights flashed and the hum whined. A brilliant flash and I was again between Dee's thighs. I was glad that this is where I flashed back each time now. It was a pleasant beginning to a long life ahead of me.