Wisdom On Wheels

By James Matt Cox

Werewolves, 'shaggies' in company parlance, are less of a problem than they could be but more than they should be. Left to themselves they like to form motorcycle gangs and prowl the nation's interstates. They consider themselves the free-est of the free, they do what they want, they party down and they always live for the moment. But for the fact that they gladly kill and eat anyone who irritates them they wouldn't be a threat to humanity.
Jason Taggart, company recruit, encounters a pair of shaggies while undergoing CDL training. Also with him is Phoebe Dayman, a fellow recruit who hates him with fervor and passion. When the shaggies kidnap the two of them Jason has enough trouble from the once-human creatures. He might be able to handle them except that Phoebe doesn't want him to succeed and she has the same training he does.
With his life already an empty, meaningless shell can Jason summon forth the effort to overcome his enemies as well as his friends? If so, what will be the cost?

• Language: English
• Publisher: James Matt Cox
• Release date: Jul 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005641849

James Matt Cox

James Matthew Cox Jr. was born in Texarkana Arkansas and he lives there today. His parents encouraged him to read and to enjoy it at a very early age. His father made certain he gained an appreciation for science fiction. His childhood heroes had names like Asimov, Bradbury and E. E. Smith. After graduating high school he earned a Bachelor's degree in computer science and a Master's degree in mathematics. He worked 25+ years as a math/CSCI instructor and recently added 'Open-Source Java Developer' to his resume. During all those years he continued to enjoy science fiction, both reading and writing, and finally decided to DO something about it.

Book preview

Wisdom on Wheels

by James Matt Cox

The story presented here is fiction.

Any similarity to any person, group or entity living, dead or virtual is purely coincidental.

Version Code: 220630

Copyright (c) 2022 by James M. Cox Jr.

Smashwords Edition

Cover Art by: www.viladesign.net

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Books by James Matt Cox

A Pattern of Details

The Dungeon Crawl Unlimited fantasy RPG system

Open Source Tools for Independent Authors

Vortex Portal

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The Children of Wisdom

The Dawn of Wisdom; Beyond Wisdom; Flashes of Wisdom

The Wisdom Blues, Bending Wisdom, Wisdom on Wheels

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Books in the Stone Blade series:

Stone Blade; Double Bait

The Radical Factor; The Burning Crown

Expedient Measures; Lethal Max

The Border Incident; The Blatant Prey

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The Moons of Epigaea

Sage's Moon; Reaper's Moon; Hallow's Moon; Planter's Moon

This book is dedicated to Scott Hickey.

An old friend, a new friend. Welcome back!

- - - - -

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

-The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Chapter 0. Prologue

Warning: This book contains material that may not be suitable for younger readers.

Pete Buttledge shifted nervously where he stood. He had a .32 in the back of his belt and a Bowie knife hanging but nothing in hand. Corey Gubbar stood at ease beside him and Joe Hunter stood in front of them both.

Hilly 'HH' Harris scored a lot of meth cheap. She killed the wetbacks that wanted to sell it to her and took it. Now she needed to sell it and the Peachers were always willing to buy.

You're fucked in the head, Joe. Shifty Adam, the Peachers' warlord, looked at Hunter with disgust. We done business before and this is bullshit. Eight large.

Shifty Adam had five men with him and he thought he had the advantage. Buttledge knew he could fight like a demon and so could Joe and Corey.

I guess we're not doing business, then, said Hunter. He stepped back. Lemme know if you get serious, Shifty. Later.

Hunter turned his back on Shifty Adam and put the meth back into his saddlebags. Buttledge knew the Peachers were dry and had a lot of demand. Since Redspike, their club, only sent three people Shifty Adam would try to steal the goods.

Shifty Adam made a subtle sign. Jerry Diddle pulled his sap and charged. Corey bellowed and charged. He clotheslined Diddle and bowled over the guy behind him. The others reached for blades, chains or clubs and Buttledge waded in.

The fight didn't last long. All of the Redspikes had some cuts or bruises and Gubbar lost a tooth but Shifty Adam and all of his soldiers were on the ground.

What the fuck, Hunter?

Shifty Adam tried to crawl backward as Hunter walked toward him. Everybody there knew he didn't bring any money.

You fucked up, boy, said Hunter. We ain't feelin' nice right now.

Bitch, you kill me and it's war.

Hunter lifted his club and beat Shifty Adam's head to mush. Some of his boys tried to get away but Gubbar iced them too.

Yowwww... Hunter threw back his head and howled.

The rest of Redspike came out of the brush. Some of them howled back. Gubbar grabbed a handful of blood and brains and smeared it across Buttledge's cheeks.

You ready to be a Redspike, boy? he asked.

Hell yeah, said Buttledge.

There's one more thing, said Hunter.

He pulled out his switchblade, knelt beside Shifty Adam and started cutting. Before long he held Adam's bloody heart. Buttledge tried not to show his shock as Hunter lifted it to his mouth and took a bite out of it. Then he held it out to Buttledge.

Live or die, boy.

Revulsion swelled inside Buttledge. He looked around and got nothing from any of the others. He knew they'd kill him if he refused. Even though Francis Yang picked him out of a crowd none of them would hesitate to stomp him to sticky goo.

Buttledge swallowed his bile, took a bite and started chewing. He wanted to gag so bad he nearly choked but he barely managed to swallow. Barely.

***

Pain wracked Buttledge's body. It started in his gut and radiated outward. He fell down and curled into a ball as the agony shook him. He went blind, the whole world went bright and when he could see again things looked... strange.

What the fuck?

Buttledge tried to scream those words but some strange, garbled, growly noise came out instead. His body felt totally weird and the smell of blood, piss and shit sickened him.

Hell yeah, shouted Hunter. Show him, baby.

Hunter's bitch Lizzie Clinton walked up and pulled out her mirror. She was obsessed with makeup and never went anywhere without one.

Buttledge's brain froze when she went down to one knee and held up the mirror.

Yellow eyes stared down a long, furry snout at him. His ears twitched and stood up.

He wasn't human any more.

Yowww...

Hunter started howling again. What Buttledge saw next really fucked his brain. Hunter's body... twisted. It twisted, cracked, fell and twitched. Then it got blurry and a big, shaggy, wild-eyed wolf stood up.

It howled and then everybody was howling. One by one they all did the same thing. Lizzie ended up as a panther, HH and Francis Yang turned into mean-ass-looking hogs, Corey turned into a big rat, Jerry Mueller turned into a hyena and Julian Booker, the scrawniest man in the club, grew into a fucking bear. A big fucking bear.

Come, brother. Let us run wild and free over the land.

Buttledge shook his head. He didn't hear that with his ears. He knew Joe said it, it was his voice, but the wolf's mouth didn't move.

"Taste your destiny. That was HH. You are no longer bound by human laws, brother. Join us and run. Feast on your foes and taste freedom."

Corey-rat jumped up on Shifty Adam's corpse and tore off a strip of flesh. Hunger growled in Buttledge's stomach. He walked shakily to the nearest Peacher and sated himself.

Chapter 1. Enmity

Jason Taggart gripped his bokken and relaxed his muscles. He stamped his foot and charged forward into a furious attack. Wood clacked against wood as the two parried and struck. Neither of them scored a point but Jason's opponent backed over the edge of the ring and fell down.

Phoebe Dayman sat there looking up for a moment. She took off her mask when Jason removed his. She flinched when he held out his hand, then took it and he pulled her up.

Shit, Feebs. Lois Roberts walked over. That should be a full point but I'm calling match on it. What the hell were you thinking?

Umm. I, ah...

You let Jason get inside your head. Stand down, Jase. I'll work her a while.

A ripple of conversation wandered through the other students in the gym. All of them worked hard over the summer but none harder than Jason. After the near-disastrous assignment that resulted in his girlfriend's death he dedicated himself to his lessons with a totality and focus none of the others understood.

All his life Jason lived a lie in the small Arizona town of Wisdom. Him and the other kids he grew up with. As far as they knew they lived lives no different from any of their peers. Then, four years ago, he and a small group of others learned the truth.

Mankind faced extinction. Monthly, weekly, even daily humanity struggled, mostly in ignorance, against foes determined to enslave it. Vampires, demonic spirits, ancient creatures of legend, all of those existed and worse. Aliens both ancient and recent used humans as experimental animals. Even other humans, twisted geniuses with no empathy for their fellows, turned their brilliant minds against those they considered beneath them.

By fortune or by fate, though, mankind had its defenders. Through the ages rare individuals rose to fight the tides of darkness. The ones who succeeded, and survived, left a legacy of knowledge in tales of ancient struggles.

In the year 1937 the government of the land known as the United States of America brought together a group of visionary people to address the threat a few of them intuited vaguely. Project Levy, laughably funded and soon discarded, succeeded in spite of the short-sighted men who disparaged it.

The original members assembled on their own. In secret and outside anyone else's knowledge they formed a new Project Levy. They recruited talent. Financial, scientific, artistic, as long as the ones approached possessed the insight required to perceive and the willingness to oppose the threat they were invited.

In the early years of the twenty-first century The Project itself teetered on the edge of survival. Few were the people able to face and fight the battles and finding them only increased the difficulty. With the project's outlook at its bleakest, the directors of the four departments hatched a desperate plan.

Thus began the town of Wisdom. The Project devoted massive resources to develop it and then to populate it. Agents married and had children. Agent teachers moved in and, from their earliest days, began training the kids up to the rigors required to become agents themselves.

The Project spared no expense to maintain the illusion. As far as the children knew they were no different from any others in the world. They grew, they played, they worked and they learned, all in ignorance of their true abilities. Upon graduating high school each student was given a choice: join the Project or not.

Things changed in 2054. The students of Donald J. Trump High, one of Wisdom's three high schools, went on a trip to the Phoenix Renaissance Faire. Ostensibly awarded for the students' academic achievements, the project directors wanted to see how their charges behaved in the outside world.

The day before the Faire the proud and excited students visited a mall for last-minute shopping. Unbeknownst to them, or any others within the Project, the President's daughter was also there. Vampire-controlled terrorists captured the mall and sealed it past any rescue. No one outside could get in, no one outside could communicate in and no one inside could get out.

In a gambit as terrible as it was necessary Colonel Don Donnahue, the current chair of the Protection Department, contacted the children inside. He revealed to them the truth of their upbringing and that they had the ability to save innocent lives.

On that day Jason and the ones with him walked away from childhood.

***

I don't get it, said Jason, moving his bishop absently. Phoebe was ahead of me in school. She beat me in everything but shooting. Sometimes even then.

You changed, dawg. Leon Reed, Jason's best friend since forever, moved a pawn to block. If I didn't know you you'd scare me too.

That's just it. I do know Phoebe. She and Becky used to be tight.

Yeah. That was then. Leo moved his knight and smirked. Check.

Jason moved his queen. Checkmate.

Shit.

Jason and Leo cleared the board and put away the pieces.

Listen, Jase. I don't know how to say this gently. You have changed. Ever since Ellen died it's like you're not even there.

Jason winced. Ellen's death still hurt.

But I am here. I'm right here.

Yeah, dude. Your body's here. You're just as badass as you ever were. Except now you're more. You're, like, intense. It's like you don't give a fuck if you die as long as you win.

I don't.

That's what I mean. When you pick up your bokken and pad up you act like whoever you're facing is one of those Fey things. Or a Drac. Even though it's practice they think they might not get out alive.

They? What about you?

I've been beating on you forever, bitch. Leo zipped up his pack and shouldered it. You couldn't kill me if you tried.

***

We're just about done studying Drac venom, said Jason. You thought it was weird when we started. It's seriously weird now. If they didn't have magic they couldn't make minnies. They might not even be able to exist. He sighed. I'm just glad we're done with them.

A gentle breeze whispered through the trees, ruffled the grass and sent a sweet scent to Jason. Ellen's gravestone now had freesia blooming on both sides. Jason worked hard to keep them growing but he didn't count the effort. She deserved it.

Well, I have to get going. I love you, sweetheart. I miss you so much. He blew her a kiss, turned and walked away.

As he walked Jason noticed someone else there. She stood in front of a grave with her head bowed. The earth had settled but little grass had grown on it. The woman seemed familiar. He walked up to her, not trying to be silent but not announcing himself either. She jumped and turned quickly. He stared, she stared and then she spoke.

Jason?

Cyndi?

She looked different than she did on his training assignment in Dallas. Among other things she played a faux pyxie, a dangerous and unsettling Fey creature, who came to his room to test his reaction. She ended up revealing herself as human in a very embarrassing way.

It's really Gwen, she said with a sad smile. Cyndi was a pyxie name I kinda liked.

Jason nodded. Um, what are you doing here?

She pointed to a gravestone. It read Mouzon Richard Driscoll, Beloved Son, Brother and Friend, 2018 - 2057.

Oh no, said Jason. Is that...

My brother. Gwen wiped her eye. He died. We knew he'd never recover but the last few months... She wiped her other eye.

I'm sorry.

Yeah. Me too. What brought you here.

I was talking to my girlfriend.

Gwen gasped.

We were fighting a Drac and a bender. She didn't make it.

Oh, Jason. That's awful. I'm so sorry. That's... that's terrible.

Yeah. I miss her so bad it hurts.

I know. Gwen looked at the grave. He was all I had. Now he's gone. Hey. Are you still training with that same lady? Miriam?

Jason turned and pointed. She's over there.

Gwen looked at him in shock. Are you serious?

Yeah. Ancient evil spirit. Portland. But she beat it.

Wow. Man. That's horrible. I'm so sorry.

Before Jason realized it Gwen's arms went around him and pulled him tight. He stiffened a moment before he relaxed. She let go and stepped back.

Um, sorry, she said. I thought you could use a hug. She half-smiled.

Yeah. Thanks. He smiled back. So how'd you end up in Wisdom? Even to his ears that sounded forced.

She pointed to a bench under a tree. You want to sit down? This may take a while.

They sat. Gwen looked at him strangely when he offered her a cigarette then lit one for himself.

That's new, she said.

He shrugged. I guess people change.

Guess so. She took a long drag and looked away. I lost it when Ricky died. I knew it was coming but it didn't help. I was okay 'till after the funeral then I kinda went off the rails. My boss cut me all the slack he could and he covered for me but I went past the line. I mean, once you start working for the company it's forever. When they found me I was flaked out of my skull in a cheap hotel wondering if I'd die before I ran out of money.

Jason grimaced.

Long story short, they picked me up, put me in detox and stuck me here. She shook her head. That was rough. What they do is so far outside the AMA it's in a different galactic sector. After that they did some psych evals and decided I could be trusted enough to work a console from Wisdom. There's nothing here but booze. She shrugged. The damn owner of the bar won't even let me get good and drunk. I think he's Protection 'cuz he's scary as hell.

The Keg and Pints?

Yeah.

That's my dad.

Wow. Gwen looked away. Sorry.

It's okay. You're right, though. He can be scary.

They sat in silence a while.

Hey, she said finally. Do you think we might, maybe, get together sometime?

Uh...

Not like that. I mean go skating or bowling or something. I haven't really made any friends here and I'd like to get out of the house.

Sure. I guess. Sometimes my friends and me do stuff. Eat pizza or stuff.

That sounds like heaven. She smiled genuinely. My contact's still the same. Just call me if you feel like it.

Sure.

***

Disguise, Protection Agent Jim Harrison, better known to his students as Doc Rat, called up a montage of their greatest successes and failures at it. "can pave your way into places people don't want you to go and it can allow you to escape them when you're done. Appearance, however, is only half of the equation. How you present yourself is as important if not more so. You can't sell the picture if there's no puzzle behind it."

He looked at them. No one laughed.

"As in picture puzzle, he said. Ohh-kay. If you look the part you have to sell the part otherwise the part won't work. I have a list of movies in which current and former actors portray their parts most exceptionally. You will study them on your own time. For now we're going to do lab. Come with me."

He led them to a large room currently configured like John Taggart's bar. Jason thought he recognized some of the mugs and glasses.

Yes, Mister Taggart, said Doc Rat. Your father donated these. I'm told Commander Taggart couldn't get to her winter clothes again.

Chuckles. Most of the students knew Jason's father collected mugs, cups and glasses. When the basement grew too crowded his mother ordered it cleared.