The Second Degree

By David Wayne Hillery

Just when Demetrius Adrien thought his adventures were over, he discovers his earlier problems are not going away after all. A new threat comes back from the past, and the troubles are not his alone, but his daughter is also in danger. This time, however, he has friends and resources to help him through. Becoming a Second Degree Black Belt may be no easier than it was becoming a First Degree, and Mr. Adrien must fight again to find some peace and quiet, or so it seems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Mar 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781483497976

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HILLERY

Copyright © 2019 David Wayne Hillery.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9798-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-9797-6 (e)

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 2/6/2019

PART 1 –

SLOWLY AND STEADILY

Chapter 1 – Rare Man

Demetrius Adrien woke up Tuesday morning determined to think of a story to tell his wife. He would be picking her up from the airport tomorrow. She would need to be briefed on the situation before she came home, because the house and everything in it was very different now. Demetrius had been to the Moon. He had also been to Saturn. Over the last four or five days, he had met aliens from two different planets and had fired a weapon to destroy a great menace, thereby saving the Earth.

But no one could ever know. Not even his wife. Not even his kids. He was a hero. No one would ever know that, either. But he did have some nice compensation for his troubles. His bank now held seven bank accounts for him and his family. Or was it six? The money was enough so that he had quit his job as an engineer, already. Surely his wife would be thrilled by the money.

Demetrius Adrien had made a friend while he was on the Moon. A man with greenish colored skin had summoned Demetrius to the Moon to help his people solve a problem, and Demetrius had succeeded. The man’s name was Mr. Temm, and he was the captain of a space ship with some forty-eight crew members. Once the Saturn mission had been accomplished, Mr. Temm had also completely re-modeled Mr. Adrien’s house on Earth, in addition to the money in the bank. Every broken thing that had been in the house was fixed. Every room was fresh and new. All the furniture was rearranged, and either new or repaired. All appliances, fixtures and appurtenances were nice and new. And there were lots of additions. Demetrius was planning to spend some time getting familiar with all the features. He wanted to read the manuals and instructions for everything. He had the manuals and instructions in his memory.

Demetrius Adrien had literally had his brain filled with sophisticated programming and data for the accomplishing of his mission to Saturn. This programming, or training, as Mr. Temm had called it, had also given Demetrius a database of information to retain for the rest of his life. So, theoretically, he knew all about the features of his house. He knew how everything worked, where everything was, and what everything was for. He just had to remember. And he had to sort it all out, slowly and steadily. That would take some time.

Mr. Adrien and his wife and two teenaged kids, were due to become First Degree Black Belts in Taekwon-Do, this Saturday. They had been training now for over two years, and the day was finally here for the big promotion. That fact will explain why Mr. Adrien spent a good part of that Tuesday exercising, rather than cleaning and tidying the house like he had intended. He also never gave much thought to making up a story to tell his wife. He was not a story-teller. He was, however, eager and ready for the Black Belt testing in the worst way, but he was also afraid of something. This was not going to be an easy test. His fear, however, seemed good. It was a good fear. He could face up to it.

Demetrius Adrien did not know that his fear of failure was rare. Having such a fear meant that he took Taekwon-Do seriously. It meant that he was not just having fun, just getting exercise, just playing a game. It meant that, to him, the art of fist and foot fighting was not just a bunch of techniques, but was an actual part of his very way of life. And it was rare because so many students of martial arts never understood what he understood. To so many students, martial arts was just fun, exercise or a game to play. They did not think of it as their own personal martial art.

That’s why his fear felt good. Because it was good. And yet, Mr. Adrien was also rare for other reasons. Many of the students in his own school also had the same fear that Demetrius had, but it was not so good for them. The reason why Mr. Adrien’s fear was a good one, was because he was planning to do something about it. He was going to be ready when Saturday came around.

In fact, he had already been doing something about it. He had, for example, spent time in front of the board holder, slamming his foot against boards which refused to break, until his foot was sore and damaged. He studied the movements and motions of his legs and body as he tried and tried over and over to get the details right.

He had on other occasions missed hours of sleep because he, as a Red Belt student, had been in his cluttered garage late at night, trying to perform various techniques, like the 360° turn in Do-San pattern, even though Do-San was merely for students with a Yellow Belt and Green tabs. He was trying to figure out what his weaknesses were, and brutally work those weaknesses until they were no longer weaknesses. He had injuries, sores and bruises that no one knew about. The walls of his garage knew about things that had embarrassed Demetrius Adrien.

But he always knew that he had never had the time for this. He had a full-time job. He had a family to share life with, and he had responsibilities at his church. Everybody seemed to expect him to put his entire attention onto whatever he was doing for them, rather than train in his Taekwon-Do. So Demetrius Adrien tried to give everybody something, but it never seemed to be enough. Maybe now, things were going to be better. More time, more focus. So why did he still have doubts? Why were there still insecurities, as if his problems were not all solved by the new bank accounts, the new data-filled brain he knew he had?

He needed Taekwon-Do. Now that things were different, he was planning on making it more his own than he had been able to before. It was a worthy cause, because of kids like Isaac. Isaac was a Taekwon-Do student, who had signed up to start classes after seeing Demetrius break a board. Demetrius had been vaguely aware that Isaac was always watching him. Demetrius was remembering things a lot better now, after Mr. Temm’s programming of his brain and body. Mr. Temm had made repairs and improvements, so Demetrius was now able to recall things like the admiration of Isaac, which he may have missed before, and never thought of. Anyhow, Isaac was in Taekwon-Do because of Mr. Adrien’s influence, and Mr. Adrien thought this was very significant. He felt the beginnings of a life purpose here. A way to make a difference.

There were other students, also who had been influenced by Demetrius Adrien. One of them was a 12-year old girl named Sharon who wanted to grow up to be tall and strong like Mr. Adrien. He had shown her how her L-stance needed to be adjusted, among other things, and she had been so impressed that it amazed her young mind. He had also demonstrated so much power when he punched and blocked in his patterns, that she never forgot how it was supposed to work when she did her own patterns, trying to imitate him. Demetrius didn’t even know it, but Sharon was practicing harder than she had ever tried anything before, to be the best, and it was all because of his teaching. And Demetrius knew her name, even though he usually did not take the time to learn all the names of all the kids. She was not just another kid taking Taekwon-Do. She was his friend; his young friend.

There were lots of kids, and adults, whom Demetrius wanted to help. He wanted to see them succeed. He cared about them.

Demetrius Adrien believed that God must have given him a rare gift by choosing him from all the billions of people on Earth, to be the one who was summoned by Mr. Temm. Surely, this was God’s way of answering prayer and fulfilling a great desire for purpose in Demetrius’s heart. Surely Mr. Temm’s programming was for the ultimate purpose of equipping Mr. Adrien, not for a mission to Saturn, but for a career as a Taekwon-Do Master Instructor. Yes, surely this must be the reason for it all.

Demetrius Adrien felt good, and even though he was a bit fearful of the upcoming Taekwon-Do event, he was planning to do his best. This was going to be the beginning of something new in his life, and he had a feeling it was going to be difficult. But he smiled as he realized that the difficulty was what made it so valuable. And so, he was a rare sort of man.

Chapter 2 – The Publisher

The week went as planned, and the three vacationing members of the Adrien family returned home to Demetrius’s new and re-modeled house. His wife was indeed thrilled about the money. It was easier than Demetrius had expected, to explain the remodeling and the new furniture, because she thought he had performed a great and romantic surprise for her. Demetrius did not consider himself romantic, nor handsome, nor charming; but many women considered him very handsome and very romantic in his gentle and quiet manner. His wife was no exception, and often tolerated his engineering style and his calculating personality, because he was very charming in other ways, by her point of view. The reasons she had been attracted to him many years ago when they met, were somewhat unknown to him, but he was, very possibly, better off not knowing.

The big Black Belt testing event came and went with everything that they could have imagined or expected. They all became First Degree Black Belts, and the moment of receiving the new belt and the new uniform was engraved into the storehouses of their various memories. Photos were taken, celebration was loud and joyous, after the new Black Belts were dismissed, to walk into the world as newly-created warriors, ready to pass on the way of life which they had apprehended somewhere along the way during three years of training.

The weeks after their promotion to Black Belt found them slowly and steadily approaching a pattern of training and teaching Taekwon-Do which helped to create a scheduled routine for the family. There was school for Mark and Michelle, and extra-curricular activities, so things began to feel normal after a while. Any changes in their lives were like the hands of a clock, moving slowly, but moving, definitely.

Demetrius was surprised one day when his wife said something about his Toyota Camry while he was reading the paper one morning. The Camry was a very personal vehicle to Demetrius, and he didn’t want anyone, even his own wife, to mess with it. Maybe Demetrius was overly sensitive about this, and he was afraid that she would never understand his fondness for his car. He hoped that she would attribute his behavior to a male macho sort of mystery, and leave him alone about the subject. So Demetrius was glad he was hidden behind the newspaper when she spoke about it.

When did you get new stripes painted on the Camry? I never noticed it before.

Demetrius took a moment to think, because he actually did not know what she was talking about. He hoped the stripes to which she was referring were perhaps small or insignificant pin-stripes that Monty had somehow added.

Oh, those have been there a while. I think one of the guys at the shop wanted to practice his painting, or something, last time I had maintenance done, so I let him use the Camry to try his hand. Did he do a good job?

Demetrius actually did not need to have maintenance done to the Camry at all, since it had been re-fitted as a space vehicle and modified with highly sophisticated navigation and maintenance systems, not to mention weapons, self-defense, sensory, and other systems. But he actually did stop by a certain auto shop occasionally, so it would be easier to pretend to be always seeing to the car maintenance. One of his old co-workers from the office where Demetrius had worked as an engineer was also a good garage mechanic, and ran a separate business there before eventually quitting his engineering technician job to work on cars full time. So Demetrius sometimes stopped by to visit his old friend.

Well, the stripes look fine, but I was wondering, actually, how long you intend to keep that old car. It’s already been six years since we bought it, you know. Are you sure you want to spend money painting stripes on it, when it might be better to just trade it in for something new?

Demetrius saw that the conversation was at least safe, and no discussion of his secrets was about to begin, so he resumed a casual tone which he hoped would steer the subject away to other areas.

Actually, I was thinking that the new 2007 Camry looks pretty good. I haven’t much cared for the way Toyota changed the style after 2001. But now, maybe you’re right. A new Camry might be nice. But, you know, I think I’ll keep this one a while longer. After all, it gets good mileage, and as long as it runs good, I don’t care too much about style and status. I’ll think about it. And with that, Demetrius considered the subject over. Seeing that Katherine was already off doing something else added to his contented frame of mind as he resumed looking at the newspaper.

He did make sure to look at the car the next time he got a chance. There, indeed, were new pinstripes along each side. It added some sportiness to the vehicle’s already shiny exterior. Maybe some mag wheels would be nice, now.

Sometimes one doesn’t know how much he has changed until long afterwards; sometimes the clock’s hands are suddenly discovered to say, You’re late! Change is not always easy. But, it doesn’t help to blame the clock, if the changes strike too fast.

The Adriens were busy, busy, and more busy, whenever they stopped to consider the ticking of the clocks of their lives. But it was a good sort of busy. Everyone seemed to like the way things were, for the most part. But the clock hands seemed to leap, on Mr. Adrien’s next birthday.

He was secretly proud of his birthday date, because to him, it was symbolic of some mysterious numerical concept. July 1st was the beginning of the second half of the year. Everyone knew that January 1st was a beginning, because it was the beginning of the new year, celebrated by the New Year’s Day holiday; but no one ever talked about the beginning of the second half of the year. He felt that the second half of the year was a great time to renew resolutions and promises which the first half may have perhaps seen unfulfilled or disappointed. And there was also a deeper meaning when you considered that one year, with its four seasons, twelve months, fifty-two weeks and three hundred sixty-five days; was a symbol of one man’s entire life, however long it might be. So the date of his birthday, July 1, meant the beginning of the second half, the second chance. Demetrius Adrien believed that everyone gets a second chance in life, somewhere along the way, but he just never knows when it’s going to happen. He believed a person should be ready, pay attention, and take hold of the opportunity when it came.

On this, his thirty-ninth birthday, he was planning to celebrate his new-found purpose in life, as well as his new age in years. That part of his celebration would be mostly his own private party, going on in his heart and soul while his family and friends shared food and drink around him. There was a get-together planned for that evening at the Halyard house to celebrate, and a few of the Adriens’ Taekwon-Do acquaintances would be there. Not every Taekwon-Do student got a birthday party, but Mr. Adrien was an important part of the school staff, now. Demetrius laughed to himself as he imagined his instructor giving him his own key to the storage closet as a birthday gift. The storage closet at the Taekwon-Do school was where they kept the cleaning supplies.

Mr. Adrien did not drive his car as much as he had at one time. He used to drive to work every day, and then home again, but now, he was retired from that job. Even before Mr. Temm had trained and programmed his brain, Demetrius had known that it was exactly 18.4 miles from his house to his workplace. As an engineer, he had a tendency to add numbers into his life where other people would not need numbers. But, now, the Camry was not getting so many miles on it every day. They often used his wife’s car when they traveled together, and the Taekwon-Do school was only about six miles away, not eighteen.

So, Demetrius did not converse with Monty every day. Monty was the control computer in the Camry, but would never start talking if there were any other passengers in the car with Demetrius. It was part of his purpose in life to remain hidden from everyone except Demetrius Adrien. Even the wife and kids of Mr. Adrien were not to know about Monty, since he was formed of sophisticated technology, most of which had not been discovered yet on Earth. He was, after all, an alien machine, not of this world. His programmers were strongly aware that Earth did not need to know about any life on other planets. Demetrius was the only one who knew. Or, at least, Demetrius assumed that he was the only one who knew.

So, on July the first, Demetrius Adrien might not have even used the Camry, and Monty was aware of that possibility. It was a small surprise when Demetrius felt the vibration of his wristwatch which meant that Monty wanted to communicate with him. He looked at his watch, after making sure that no one else was in a position to see the display. Monty had written in colorful text, Happy Birthday! Demetrius smiled as he followed the animated letters moving about the watch face. He was unable to return a response to Monty, for fear that someone in the house would hear him talking to his arm, or would see him punching the tiny buttons which were not supposed to exist on the watch. So he made a mental note to thank Monty later for the sentiment.

But Monty’s message continued, with a second small vibration of the wrist. Demetrius read the next note; I have a gift for you. This was strange, but interesting news. How could Monty, a talking computer, have a birthday gift for him? Demetrius spent some time coming up with a realistic excuse to go for a drive, alone.

Once he was in the car, and backing out of the garage on his way to the grocery store, Demetrius asked Monty if it were true and possible that Monty had a birthday gift for him. Even though Monty was a machine, or perhaps a robot, Demetrius always treated him like a friend. A human friend. Demetrius did not know that this actually had the effect of helping Monty to indeed act more like a human. Monty’s programming was worlds beyond the programming capabilities of Earth, and he could learn the ways of humans better than humans could. So he was slowly and steadily becoming more accustomed to Demetrius’s ways of communicating, his habits of speech and activity, and even his desires and emotions, to some extent.

Demetrius felt awkward asking Monty to show him his birthday gift, just as he would have felt asking the same thing of a fellow human; but nevertheless, he asked. And Monty said, It is a book. The person who wrote the book will become apparent as you read, and I merely put it down on paper at his request. He thought it would make a good birthday gift for you today.

This news had a strange affect on Demetrius. There was something which could be described as fear which came over him as he realized what Monty had said. Someone had written a book and given it to Monty to publish, as a gift for his thirty-ninth birthday. That