Daniel and Job, Book II: The Nograv

By William Rich

"Daniel and Job, Book II: The Nograv" is a true sequel to "Daniel and Job." It is a science-fiction romantic comedy which continues the adventures of Daniel Johnstone, his amazing dog Job, Daniel's new bride Jessie, Captain Kandar of Ionus and General Jerome Bascombe. The story slightly overlaps the end of the first book by beginning with Mr. Benjamin's attempt to assassinate Daniel at the Vatican so that Mr. Jacobs and his team could commandeer the spaceship Dorius, but it does so this time from the vantage point of the would-be assassins. After this fiasco, Benjamin is forced to flee across Europe and to develop a plan to finish his "project" with new recruits.
The story then focuses on Daniel and his friends and their attempts to reclaim their lives in America. As each new adventure unfolds, Daniel's box of leather-bound booklets continues to add interesting asides as he recounts his interactions with legends from the past while many of the characters from "Daniel and Job" return to play key roles in this tale of an extraordinary couple's search for peace, love and happiness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781682227091

Book preview

Rich

Prologue

Daniel Johnstone

It was 1838 and Daniel's Ma died when he was born. His father Jebediah was busy with his law practice, so Danny's Aunt Martha and Uncle Bob helped raise him until he was eight. That was when Jebediah got the notion to take Daniel — along with all their earthly possessions — and head west. By 1848 they had settled in the Colorado territory and built a small log cabin there.

One morning in the spring of 1850, Daniel was out fishing when he spotted the local bobcat, known oddly enough as Old Bob, perched upon the ledge above him. When the boy turned to run, he stumbled for just one moment before racing back home — and narrowly escaped being pounced upon by that feral cat. Later he and his Pa discovered that it was more than just blind luck and his fleetness of foot that saved the boy: a very large dog had apparently intervened on his behalf. Old Bob's neck was broken

Jebediah allowed his son to keep the dog and Daniel named him Job. The boy and his new companion became fast friends and Job became Daniel's protector, guardian-angel and confidant as well. Meanwhile, Jebediah took full advantage of the dog's natural hunting skills.

Near the end of that summer, Daniel and Job were heading towards their favorite fishing spot when they both became aware of a loud rumbling and a strange sort of lightning in the sky. Within seconds they realized that some kind of thing was hurtling down and it was becoming more and more apparent that it would land nearby. Being utterly fearless and even more curious, Job charged straight for the large mysterious object that was plowing through the trees.

When Job and the boy touched the thing, a hatch opened and two strange creatures were ejected from it. Then the dog charged up the ramp and inside the vessel. Just as Daniel caught up with Job and grasped the dog's tail, a third alien grabbed Job by his muzzle. The boy passed out.

It was already getting late when Daniel woke up, but he took the time to gather some large stones to bury the two alien corpses. Unfortunately, his Pa was in no humor to hear his recounting of what he'd witnessed earlier that day and it soon became obvious that the boy and his dog had both acquired extraordinary powers — the likes of which they had never known.

Over the coming months, Daniel and Job learned how to utilize and control their unique abilities while they focused on concealing and repairing the ship. As the years passed, they also came to recognize that their aging-process had slowed remarkably. By 1855, Daniel became obsessed by dreams of Jessie: a beautiful young woman who he believed was destined to become his wife.

Job

Jebediah guessed that Job was no more than about two years old when they found him. And, although it was true that his Pa gave Daniel permission to keep the dog under his specific terms and conditions, an animal like Job isn't truly kept. The dog adopted the boy — that was clear from their very first meeting. Described only as a rather large dog with scars that were all healed-over already, Job was obviously a scrapper who apparently had no fear whatsoever of the larger woodland wildlife. Besides the bobcat, Job was also known to have stood his ground against a black bear and he gained considerable renown as a hunting dog.

After being exposed to the ship and its occupants, Job became even more of a force to be reckoned with — particularly when defending Daniel against any perceived threat: whether real or imagined. Job could be jealous, but he was also quite often the only stabilizing voice of reason in the growing young man's world.

Jessica Drake

Jessie was born to Wilbur and Sophie Drake some 22 years ago. She was fresh out of college with a new job and had just moved into her own apartment. Her first assignment as a professional reporter was to investigate the strange goings-on at the huge and mysterious Rev-Tech Bionics Corporation. Posing as a job-applicant, she blindly snapped a photo inside an off-limits laboratory.

Immediately upon leaving the facility, she found herself being chased by a security team in two vehicles. She did her best to evade her pursuers by dodging into a wooded area, but she only managed to mire her car in a sea of mud instead: with both security teams mere seconds behind her. Just before she was knocked unconscious by the nearest of the four armed guards, she saw what appeared to be a blind boy and his dog.

Jessie woke up in the home of that same young man who turned out not to be blind after all. Over the next few days, she found four leather-bound booklets on a shelf in her room and she read them while convalescing in the boy's home. Her initial impression was that the books were evidence of an over-worked adolescent imagination, but, just as she was mistaken about the boy's lack of sight, one revelation led to another until she realized that the boy was the owner of Rev-Tech, that he was considerably older than his apparent 16 years and that the earth was about to be invaded by aliens from outer space!

Little by little, and quite despite herself, she became more and more enchanted by the young man. She had dated dozens of men since high school, but not one of them was even remotely like Daniel. And, despite the awkward circumstances, she didn't hesitate to say yes when he finally proposed to her.

Kandar

Kandar was an Ionian — an alien marooned on earth for nearly two hundred years. He was a trained scientist who had been drafted into the military on his home planet of Ionus as a fighter-pilot. His primary interest had been to pursue the legendary Vargon — a mythical creature of immense power, due to the fact that it could travel unencumbered across dimensions at amazing speeds.

In a skirmish against the enemy Bardokians, Kandar unwittingly turned their new secret weapon against them: destroying a battle-cruiser. As the only survivor of the battle, Kandar was left drifting in space when by chance he was found and rescued by the mysterious Vargon.

Immediately upon recovering, Kandar had to report to his commanding officer and explain how he managed to survive the Bardokian death-ray and how he defeated a battle-cruiser with just a small fighter. That information soon led to a plan that would end the Forever War and elevate Kandar to hero status. Eventually, his desire to find the Vargon again would prove his undoing: costing him everything that he cherished and leaving him stranded on earth.

Shahlaya

Shahlaya was the beautiful young wife of Kandar and his only true love. They had met in school while majoring in Alien Cultures. Besides being Kandar's wife, she was also an accomplished scientist in her own right. She was training for the flight to the moon Dorius, when she found out that she was pregnant and scrubbed from the mission. As a member of Kandar's family, Shahlaya was targeted by the Bardokians for revenge.

The Vargon

A mysterious creature, perhaps the last of its kind, the Vargon eventually identified itself as the choir of souls. It would normally manifest itself as a hovering, multi-colored sphere roughly a meter in diameter. Its many hues would wash over it like clouds over a microcosmic world.

Although Kandar already had the powers of telepathy and telekinesis, he could not penetrate the mind of the Vargon; and, it was only in conjunction with the Vargon that he was able to demonstrate teleportation. The Vargon was omni-dimensional and that was the key and the catalyst for this new ability.

General Jerome Bascombe

Jerome was apparently the only son of Professor Albert Bascombe, a physicist and co-founder of Rev-Tech Bionics Corporation along with Daniel Johnstone. Albert and Daniel had kept a wealth of secrets from young Jerry as he was growing up and, knowing that eventually Daniel would need a liaison with the government, they discretely guided Jerome towards a career in the military. At the age of sixty-two with both of his parents believed to be dead, General Bascombe is finally presented with DNA evidence that would seem to prove that he is actually related to the ageless Daniel.

George Banks

George Banks was the senior FBI agent in charge of surveillance outside Jessica Drake's apartment. He had also served under General Bascombe in Desert Storm and had always held him in the highest regard. So, it came as no surprise when the agent jumped at the opportunity to resolve the President's problems with both the General and the spaceship Dorius based on his belief in the officer's patriotism and integrity. The Dorius was too powerful a weapon to allow it to fall into the hands of any other nation and the President demanded that it be returned to the U.S. as soon as possible and by any means available. Agent Banks was almost certain that he could negotiate a deal that would bring the General, Daniel Johnstone and the Dorius back home.

Thomas Beckert

FBI agent Thomas Beckert was assigned to Banks as his partner. He was decades younger than Banks, but he complemented the older agent's military experience with his own technical expertise. When subtlety or finesse was required, Beckert could intervene for the sometimes heavy-handed Banks. But having come straight from the academy, Beckert was also more inclined to do things by the book while Banks was known to bend the rules for the sake of expediency.

Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Benjamin

Jacobs was a CIA agent and Washington insider. He was part of the President's inner circle — someone he could trust to do a dirty job competently and completely. The much younger Mr. Benjamin was Special Ops: a trained assassin among other things. Together, they were recruited by the Vice-President to procure the Dorius by enlisting the help of General Bascombe, who had fallen into disfavor with the President. The General seemed to have the close association with the Johnstone boy that could get them in the door. And, once inside, neither Jacobs nor Benjamin would have any qualms about eliminating anyone in the way of their acquiring the ship.

The Dorius

A saucer-shaped Ionian craft, the Dorius was built as a deep-space exploration vehicle. It was designed to accommodate and sustain a crew of three or four for years. It was well-armed with defensive weapons and was believed to be the fastest ship ever constructed. Originally, Kandar was intended to pilot the craft with his wife Shahlaya as Science Officer and their mentor Professor Markus as Mission Commander.

Sadly, due to very unfortunate circumstances, Kandar was forced to steal the Dorius in order to escape punishment at the hands of the Bardokians. After Kandar crash-landed the ship on earth, Daniel and Job inherited the roles as its caretakers.

Wilbur and Sophie Drake

The parents of Jessie, Wilbur and Sophie Drake are born-again hippies trying to revive the Sixties. Quite liberal in their own views and behavior, they did their best to raise Jessie with conservative values while blatantly espousing the credo of do as I say, not as I do. They are as oblivious to their own hypocrisy as they are to their contradictory lifestyle. They are anarchists without a clue, but, despite their low-key revolution against The Establishment (or The Man, as they would insist), they are essentially harmless.

And, Our Story So Far…

After Daniel fled with the Dorius to avoid capture by the military, the General joined forces with Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Benjamin in collusion with the Vice–President. A few days later, Bascombe finally managed to meet up with Daniel on his father's ranch just moments before his allies arrived. In order to escape Jacobs and his men, Daniel launched the Dorius into orbit with Jessie, the General and Job on board. At first, it seemed as though there was no place on earth where the ship and its crew would be welcomed, but, after considerable thought, the boy and the dog decided to land the vessel in St. Peter's Square, the Vatican.

There Daniel and his companions were offered asylum by the officials of the Church and, within days, an audience with the Pope was convened. After a very memorable first meeting, the Bishop of Rome and his new friends exited the ship before a huge crowd of well-wishers with a disguised General Bascombe leading the way. The ever-vigilant Job was standing guard next to Daniel and Jessie, when the Pope turned to bless them and the Dorius...

Chapter 1

Benjamin

Roger was heading back to their room with the coffee, when he realized that he hadn't heard any chatter on his earpiece. He balanced the two cups on the cardboard tray and fumbled for the keys in his pocket. His key fob was snagged on the pocket-lining, so he reached up to knock on the door. There was one muffled shot. He immediately threw the coffees at a table, spilling both cups across the surface and against the wall, then he adjusted his earpiece. He got it working just in time to hear Jacobs yelling: Ben, you missed! He's still open. Try it again!

Roger knew that Benjamin was either busy or in trouble, so he hurriedly ripped the keys out of his pocket causing a number of coins to fall out and roll in all directions. Despite the poor lighting, he managed to get the key into the knob. In a slightly-raised voice he said: Ben, it's Roger! Then he unlocked the door and cautiously entered the room.

Ben was seated, leaning back in his wheelchair, in front of the open window. Something was definitely wrong with this picture. Roger spoke in a near-whisper: Ben? He closed the door quietly behind him and locked it. He hurried across the room and stood beside his associate, bending down to get a better look at his face.

There was just a trickle of blood tracking down the side of his nose. Roger pulled Ben's baseball cap off and tossed it towards the bed. A rifle slug was embedded in Benjamin's forehead aligned straight upward from his nose. The young man was out cold.

What the—? Roger whispered. He touched the bullet with his fingertip and reacted quickly. The slug was still hot. He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of freak ricochet would have caused Ben to shoot himself with his own gun.

Wake up, Ben! Where's the rifle? He dragged the wheelchair around on the carpet ninety degrees to get it away from the window. He tried shaking the young man awake, but it was useless. At wit's end he gave the chair an over-exuberant shove. The wheels were locked and it fell backwards. Ben's head bounced sharply against the floor, but the bullet remained embedded on his forehead. Roger was about to say sorry, when he happened to look out the window.

The rifle was just lying out there: about six feet down, near the edge of the canvas awning. First he leaned out of the open window stretching as far as he could with his right arm while gripping the window frame with his left hand. That was definitely not working. He looked down at the street several floors below him as he pulled himself back into the room. This time he stuck his right leg out of the window, holding onto the frame with his left hand and leg as he reached down for the weapon.

He was sweating profusely and extending his right arm down towards the rifle. He managed to get one finger on the sling when he noticed the sound of canvas tearing. He snagged the sling with that one finger and immediately his other fingers locked around it. His foot was beginning to rip through the awning. It was only when his leg tore through the canvas that he noticed the Italian police cars pulling up in the street below. Their lights were flashing and the drone of sirens in the distance informed him that more were on the way.

As he pulled himself up towards the window, he could hear a commotion at the entrance. Then there was the all-too-familiar sound of shoulders banging against the locked door. He had maybe two seconds.

Polizia! the uniformed man screamed as he burst into the room. He stepped to one side and surveyed the room quickly while his partner rushed in. Roger was sitting on the window sill, leveling the rifle at the first officer when the second one shot him in the chest.

Roger squeezed off one round, killing the first Italian, before a policeman on the street put a bullet through the back of his head. The second cop in the room fired again and Roger fell backwards out the window.

Ben had awakened at the sound of the forced entry. He was still in the wheelchair trying to figure out exactly what was happening and what he could do to complete his mission when he saw Roger take the fatal wounds that sent him flying out the window. He had a pistol under the pillow on the bed next to him. He raised his hands straight up from his position on the floor.

Don't shoot! I'm an American! he yelled. I'm wounded! That man hurt me! He forced his way into my room and he hurt me!

The second cop leveled his weapon at the two hands protruding from the other side of the bed as he cautiously walked around it to get a better look. He could readily see that the man in the overturned wheelchair was bleeding and he understood enough English to realize that the story seemed credible.

Okay, you! You no move, the policeman ordered Ben. I get-a you help now.

He looked out the open window to see where his victim had fallen. Roger's body had broken through two awnings before it bounced off the third and out into the street. There was a squad of Italian cops circling the corpse. The policeman waved down to them and mumbled something into his radio.

I get-a you help! he reassured Ben and then he walked over to check on his fallen partner.

Ben slowly tugged on the bed-sheet until he could see the end of the silencer jutting out from under the pillow. He could hear the Italian reacting to the realization that his partner Giacomo was dead. He was obviously in tears and quite preoccupied between his grief and his screaming for help into his radio. Ben took advantage of the situation and managed to wriggle out of the chair.

He was nearly on his feet when he leaned on the bedpost to steady himself with his right hand. The policeman heard the bed creak and turned around just as Ben grabbed the pistol with his left hand and squeezed off one round. He was aiming for the center of the man's forehead, but he wasn't left-handed. He missed his mark by a full inch.

I need to practice shooting lefty! Ben whispered as he hobbled over to his crutches. He got one crutch under his right arm before another cop entered the room. Ben casually put one bullet into the officer's forehead: firing with his right hand. "Now that's better," he muttered with some satisfaction.

He hurriedly threw his coat over his shoulders and grabbed his other crutch. From what little he could hear on his earpiece, everything had gone terribly wrong. He needed to get out of there. He made his way through the maze of corpses and out into the hallway just as two paramedics climbed to the top of the stairs with a stretcher.

Here! he pointed them towards the doorway and he stepped to one side. They stopped at the open entryway and gaped in horror at the bodies of the three policemen. He fired at the back of their heads. He needed time to get out of there and these guys could only mean more trouble. Ben bought himself a few more seconds.

He spotted the emergency exit at the opposite end of the hall. That would take him out to the back of the building and away from all of the busyness on the street side. Then he noticed the fire-hose on the wall. He unreeled the hose and opened the nozzle. He tossed it down the stairs and twisted the spigot to full open. Ben could hear the water gushing down the stairs and the cops screaming profanities as they tumbled backwards. He headed out through the emergency exit and touched his brow.

Ben grimaced and gasped slightly as he pulled the slug off his forehead. He looked at the bullet and the blood on his fingers. He smiled as he held the piece of metal between his thumb and his index finger.

Now, if that don't beat everything! He stashed the bullet in his shirt pocket. Within seconds he was on the ground and heading away from all of the commotion. There weren't many people on the sidewalk. All of the action was on the other side of the building.

*****

A teenager coasted in front of him on a bicycle and Ben snatched the boy's cap off his head. The boy slammed on his brakes and turned around to look at the man who was wearing his cap. Ben pulled open his coat to reveal his pistol. The boy turned back around and pedaled off at full speed. The agent grinned and pulled the cap low over his brow. Now he was going to need transportation.

Ben remembered a small restaurant just a few blocks away. It suddenly occurred to him that he wasn't sure how many shots he had fired and he didn't want to risk getting involved in another situation without a full magazine. He headed for the restaurant, hoping to find a dark empty booth where he could reload and regroup. His right thigh was still hurting from the gun-play in the General's barn and now he had a pounding headache to go with it. A couple of minutes later, he hobbled into the small eatery.

Ciao! a pretty, young lady greeted him.

Ciao, he responded and pointed towards the back of the room. Is it okay if I sit back there?

Che cosa? she asked.

Me— he pointed at himself. Sit— there! he pointed at the darkened table.

Me— she pointed at him. Go! she gestured towards the door.

Ben ignored her and headed for the table in the back. The attractive young waitress threw her hands up in exasperation: Americano!

She spoke to an old man in the kitchen. The man removed his apron and tossed it over a chair before he came out to the dining area. He walked back to the table where Ben had seated himself. Ben's crutches were leaning against the wooden bench.

"Scusi. This-a table is reservated for a dinner in trenta – how you say? — thirty — minutes!"

Then you had better serve me quickly, so I can be on my way! Ben replied. Vino, per favore!

"Big-a-shot Americano knows-a two