The Tree of Knowledge by Daniel G. Miller

Author:Daniel G. Miller [Miller, Daniel G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houndstooth Books
Published: 2021-03-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Albert rose from his bed and stretched his back, which felt like it had been beaten with sticks by pygmies in the middle of the night. His coddled body was not used to the less than robust support provided by the Travis Farm’s twin guest bed. Looking out the small cross-paned window of his room, Albert noticed that the macabre drip of the farm at night had given way to a lush morning light reminiscent of the horse farms outside of Northfield. Albert could smell the rich scent of azaleas mixed with a faint aroma of eggs and bacon. He heard the bubbling of Ying’s voice below blended with the hum of men’s laughter and hurried downstairs to see what he was missing.

As he crossed the threshold of the Travis Farm’s kitchen, he couldn’t help feeling that he had stumbled into a sequel of The Big Chill. There, sitting and laughing over breakfast at a round cherry-wood kitchen table, was the odd assortment of people from the night before. And at the center of it all was Ying, enthusiastically recounting a story in the fully animated way that was her trademark, with the whole table doubled over in laughter.

Puddles’s eyes first met those of Brick, who converted his broad smile into a menacing frown. Witnessing the sharp change in Sergeant Travis’s face, Turner and the man in the wheelchair stopped laughing and pivoted to see their new guest.

“Maaan, you got some bad taste in ladies, amigo,” shouted the man in the cowboy hat with a smile.

After holding their faces in ill-disguised seriousness, the entire table burst out laughing while looking at Albert.

Puddles smiled the confused smile of a man who knew that a joke was in the offing but had no clue what the joke was. Slowly, he approached the table, socks slipping and sliding along the hardwood floor.

Mercifully, Ying shattered Albert’s befuddlement. “I’m sorry, Professor. I was just telling the guys here about how the love of your life framed you for murder.”

More laughter.

“I’m glad you all get so much joy out of that story.”

“Oh, don’t be so sensitive, Puddles. So, you got your ass kicked by a girl. It’s probably not the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last,” said Brick with an unsympathetic smirk.

“Why don’t you join us for breakfast, Albert, and we’ll introduce you to our new friends here,” said Turner.

Albert reluctantly joined them at the table and dutifully shook hands while pulling out a backless chair.

Turner began, “This, Albert, is the Book Club. The man beside you is Gabe Abernathy.”

Albert carefully sized up the man next to him.

“Gabe knows more about cyber-intelligence than anyone in the game. He and Sergeant Travis met in the Green Zone in Iraq and have been friends ever since. He will be teaching you how to use technology to maximize the Tree’s impact during your training.”

“I’m sorry, did you say training?”

“Of course. I’ve spoken more with Sergeant Travis and the rest of the club here about our situation, and it seems that things are even more dire than we anticipated.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.