Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 21:17:36 -0500 Reply-To: NSumsion@AOL.COM Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: "Nathan R. Sumsion" Subject: The Value of Friends (5a/10) This story contains scenes of violence and an occasional offensive word. The Value of Friends part five of ten by Nathan R Sumsion SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. 1996 Jessica arrived at Jacob's home and let herself in. She felt his presence, so she knew he was there. "Jacob, it's me." He appeared at the top of the stairs, his usual smile buried with grief. "You didn't leave." It was a statement more than a question. Jessica climbed the stairs and took Jacob in her arms, holding him tightly. "I called Chris and explained to him I'd be late. I couldn't leave after..." Jacob nodded, not letting go. "How did you find out?" She hesitated, then responded, "Monica, his Watcher, called me. She was pretty shaken up about it." Jacob released her and began to walk down the stairs. "Why? Wasn't ready for reassignment?" "Jacob," Jessica scolded. "That's unfair. She really liked Lamont, as much as any of us did." She was about to say more, but saw that Jacob agreed. He was morose, in a mood to complain. Despite his dislike for the Watchers, he knew the girl Monica considered Lamont a friend. "She called me too," was all he said. "I think it would mean a lot to her if you'd talk to her before she leaves." Jessica knew how much she was asking of him, but he merely nodded, putting up no argument. "How much longer will you stay?" he asked. Jessica shrugged. "We'll see." ******************************* He met with her the following day for lunch. Jacob had invited her over to his home. Despite his attempts at civility, Monica still seemed nervous and ill-at-ease. "Please have a seat," he offered her. "And Monica, please try to relax. I'm not going to kill you or report you to your supervisor." She smiled bashfully as she seated herself at the dining table. Jacob's home was impressive, if for nothing other than it being completely ordinary. There were the mementos of past lives upon shelves and tables, but Jacob didn't go in for the extravagance like many of the Immortal's she'd heard of. The floors were hardwood, covered with plain rugs. The room was clean and organized. With an inward sigh, she realized the home had a comforting "air" to it. It was a placed that felt lived-in, relaxing. "I want to thank you for inviting me over, Mr. Hamilton. I know you're not especially fond... well, and after Lamont..." Jacob smiled, a genuine and natural response at Monica's discomfort. "You're not relaxing. Now please..." He placed a plate of pasta in front of her and joined her at the table. "Lamont was a dear friend of mine, one of the best I've ever had. I miss him terribly already. I guess I just wanted... I suppose I just wanted to speak to someone who knows him like I do." They were silent for the next few minutes, Monica nervously pecking at the food in front of her, Jacob letting his cool, untouched and unnoticed. His eyes were far-away, his mind obviously no longer in the room. "Mr. Hamilton?" she asked, breaking him out of his revelry. "Could you tell me about how you first met him?" "He never told you?" Jacob asked, surprised. "That's one of his preferred stories to tell to anyone who knows me." "Oh, he's told me," she reassured. "Several times. But... I'd like to hear you tell me about it." Jacob smiled again, and his eyes focused somewhere else. THE SOUTH PACIFIC, 1944. Jacob grimaced and readjusted the pack on his back. He swatted at a large mosquito that had been at him for the past two hours. Here he was, part of one of the most efficient fighting forces on the planet, and he couldn't even eliminate a simple bug. "Hamilton!" the sergeant barked. "Yes, sergeant?" He tried to hide his scowl. The sergeant came up next to him. The were positioned behind a ridge, from where they hadn't moved since they had stormed the beach earlier that morning. He didn't even know the name of the island they were on, but they knew there were Japanese positions on it. Well-defended positions, since so many of their force had lost their lives attempting to land on the beach. They had been sitting behind the embankment, waiting for reinforcements to arrive. They were all hoping their reinforcements arrived before the Japanese tanks found them. They had very little in the way of any weapons able to penetrate the shells of rolling armor. "We just got word in. Reinforcements will be here in ten minutes. We have to provide them with cover without getting ourselves blown away in the process. Suggestions?" The sergeant didn't particularly care for Jacob and the feeling was mutual. He sought out every opportunity to make Jacob's life miserable, in fact. But the man had recognized early on Jacob's intuitive sense of tactics. They had already saved several of them on similar island landings. Part of Jacob's sense of tactics came from the fact that he understood the Japanese mindset so well. It saddened him that he had to use it in this way. He had no desire to fight the Japanese. Ryoshei had been one of his closest friends as well as his teacher, and he had a deep respect for the Japanese culture. It had been the unfortunate luck that just as he had established a new identity for himself, that new identity was drafted into the service. And here he was. "They will have undoubtedly mined a good portion of the area here." "Undoubtedly," the sergeant agreed, as if he had already deduced as much. "The only way to surely avoid the mines will be to stick to those areas where they run their own tanks." The sergeant nodded, but scowled as well. "Of course, that will mean we'll run into their tanks instead of their mines. Not much of an improvement." Jacob shrugged and was about to comment further, but the sergeant wheeled around to address the rest of the squad, his mind already made up. "Okay, men! We have to lay down cover for our reinforcements. They'll be here any minute now. As Private Hamilton has so intuitively pointed out, if we round this ridge to the south, we will run into their tanks. So the only alternative is to go up over the ridge! On my mark!" "No!" Jacob protested, running over to where the sergeant was preparing to lead the charge over. "That's exactly what they would expect..." "Move!" the sergeant commanded and the column of men ran over the top of the ridge. Jacob was running full speed to catch up to the sergeant, in the hopes of wheeling him about to stop the disaster that was sure to follow. But just as he was nearing the other man, he heard the ominous click as the sergeant stepped down. Without hesitation, he barreled into the sergeant, knocking him off his feet. "What the..?" the sergeant screamed just before the whole world turned end-over-end. ******************************* It was the presence of another Immortal that brought him back to consciousness. He sat up groggily and squinted against the bright glare of the sun in his eyes. "Hah! I told you he was still alive," an unfamiliar voice pronounced. "Sweet Jesus," the sergeant whispered. The sounds of combat could be heard about three hundred yards off. As Jacob sat up, trying to orient himself, he saw his sergeant and two medics, one of whom turned out to be Lamont Carmichael. Lamont was grinning mischievously at him as he explained to the others. "I've seen it before. Body'll do weird things after being launched into the air by a land-mine." "I could've sworn there wasn't any pulse," the other medic exclaimed, more mystified than convinced. The sergeant looked like he wanted to remain behind, but Lamont turned to him, "You run on ahead, sergeant. This one'll be okay." The sergeant nodded his head, but met Jacob's gaze. "You saved my life, Hamilton. I won't forget that." As the other medic moved on to tend to other fallen soldiers, Lamont explained. "Your group's little charge there set off several land mines. Drew the attention of the Japanese over to this side of the shore. By the time they noticed us it was too late." He smiled, leaned closer, and whispering conspiratorially, "Man, I swear we saw you fly from all the way on the other side of the beach. That was something. Promise me you'll show me how to do it? We learn how to fly and we'll win this war in no time." His smile was so infectious Jacob soon found himself laughing with the medic surrounded by the dead and dying and fighting. ******************** End 5a. Send any comments to me at: NSumsion@aol.com =========================================================================