The Winter of Our Discontent by J D Eastman

Author:J D Eastman [Eastman, J D]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JFK Publishing
Published: 2020-01-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2020

“I’m sorry,” Alex said, his brow a knot of confusion. “How exactly is this supposed to work?”

He continued to stare at the skateboard that lay on the ground before him, as Commander Craig signaled for one of his heftier men to approach them. The guy must have weighed at least three hundred and fifty pounds. Stepping onto the board, he stood still for a moment. Alex was surprised that the man proved able to keep his balance so well. To beginners, skateboards behaved much like ice skates: The first time most people mounted one, they’d most likely end up on their ass.

Of course, Alex was even more surprised when the hefty man accomplished an impressive kick-turn. The pivot might not have achieved technical perfection, but the dude had definitely pulled it off.

“Stop fucking around, Riggs,” Commander Craig barked, obviously losing patience with the skateboarding wannabe.

The large man promptly stepped off the board and deftly halted it from rolling away.

“Now,” Tasker ordered. “Show Alex the bottom of your feet.”

The man complied by lifting his leg and pivoting his knee. There, on the bottom of his shoe, was a large wet spot.

“You activate the poison through the switch on the wheelbase,” Alex’s father explained as he picked up the board.

His father handed the board to Alex so that he could exam the switch himself. Well, technically, it wasn’t a switch so much as a deceptive part. In actual practice, Alex would have to swivel the wheelbase against the underside of the board, which would activate the poison. Then, he would simply need to swivel the wheelbase back to its original position, thereby locking the wheels in place. The move was supposed to be so slight that nobody would notice him making the adjustment. Besides the fact that he doubted his ability to activate the poison without someone catching onto the scheme, there were several other flaws in this plan. One, however, dominated all the others.

“Just so I’m clear,” Alex said, “the poison will transfer through shoes? Right?”

His father glanced toward Tasker; whose smile had vanished with the question. “Yes, well,” he murmured, “the Supreme Leader will have to be barefoot when he stands on the board.”

“Sorry, I must not have heard you right,” Alex retorted. “You expect me to get the Supreme Leader of North Korea, Kim Song-dung, to take his shoes and socks off?”

“He’s convinced, just like his old man, that he’s the best at everything,” Tasker replied, a smidgen of smug annoyance in his voice. “Since you perform barefoot, and you’re considered to be the best in the world, he’ll want to do it just like you.”

Alex stared at Tasker, wondering if he truly believed that the Supreme Leader of North Korea, and now the Governor of the United States of America, would care so greatly about presenting himself as a stupendous skateboarder that he’d remove his shoes on live television, thus copying Alex’s uniquely wacky style.

“It’ll work,” Tasker assured him.

“Okay,” Alex said, his own annoyance piqued,

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