I Will Love You Forever

Ken kissed the shoulder he would never kiss again.

I will love you forever, he whispered. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. Then he frowned; something wasn’t right.

He pressed lips to her shoulder again. The skin wasn’t cold.

His heart jumped; he put his head against her back.

I have lost my mind, he thought, as the most wonderful sound ever heard assaulted his eardrum.

Her heart was beating.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

1 Arrival

2 Survival

3 Communication

4 Complications

5 Discovery

6 Poltergeist

7 Captives

8 Released

9 Owens

10 Lu

11 Fallout

12 Time Bomb

13 Spotlight

14 Hoover

15 Active Interrogation

16 Showdown

17 Hot Lab

18 Goodbye

19 The End of the World

20 Miracles

21 Roommates

22 Intelligence

23 Resurrection

24 Eyes

25 Debrief

26 Home

Afterword

Acknowledgments

About the Author

I Will Love You Forever: Book I of Protector

Published by Taproot LLC, Frederick, Maryland, U.S.A.

Copyright © 2015 by Brian H. Groover. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For additional permissions contact the author at author@briangroover.com

If in electronic form, 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 are 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. This book is available in trade paper and all electronic formats at online retailers. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

ISBN: 9781507663684 (Trade paper edition)

ISBN: 9781310900556 (ePub/mobi/pdf/rtf/lrf/pdb/txt/html editions)

ASIN: B00SOEO7PS (Amazon Kindle edition)

First Edition: 14 February 2015

10 9 8 7 6 5 4

for Kathi,

who loved me enough

to let me chase a dream

and

for Grace,

who believed

1 Arrival

The tires crunched on gravel as the pickup pulled into the drive. Ken Winston stopped the truck just into the turning circle in the grass, looking at the front door straight ahead of him. I didn’t think it would hit me like this. He could hear Lu beside him, gathering the closing papers and keys. He took a deep breath, put the truck in park, and turned off the engine. He gripped the wheel with both hands, and looked above the roof of the little ranch house, where dark green leaves could just be seen, below the clear blue Idaho sky.

His grandfather’s voice came back to him from fifteen years ago as if it had been the day before. I sweated blood for every one of those damn trees, boy, and they cheated me out of them! That’s our home. You’ve never seen the place, but that land is where you belong. You get it back in the family, you hear me? When you do, they will try to take it away again. Don’t you let them.

I won’t, Grandpa, Ken whispered, as a hand gently laid atop his fist clenching the steering wheel.

Ready to get out? Lu asked.

She spoke softly, but he started, blinked, and turned to regard her. Her blue eyes seemed to mirror the pale blue of the sky, but he thought her complexion and chestnut hair fit even better with the forest. She looked both solemn and happy. He thought her eyes would be worried about his being lost in his memories again, but they showed calm confidence. She understands.

Yeah, he chuckled, Let’s do it. He reached over and laid his hand alongside her face, his fingertip brushing the scar on her cheekbone. He saw her eyes widen as he touched it. Don’t remind her of that now, idiot!

I was just going to say, he said as if she had objected, that your mother must have been a remarkably beautiful woman.

Why do you say that now? Her eyes began to well.

I don’t know. It just seems right, somehow. You, here, with the land and the trees. You fit. It’s as if she’s here with you.

Lu had tears brimming, but she smiled and said, How would either one of us know? My parents died when I was five! As she said it, she reached up and touched his fingers over the reminder on her face.

We’ve seen pictures. I don’t know why I said that, babe, but it felt right. You are more beautiful now than you’ve ever been.

Her smile continued to be a bit uncertain, but she slid her hand down along his, to the stitches marked in the top of his forearm. When she touched the boyhood scar, her smile widened, and she said, We are a perfect match, aren’t we? I expect you’re right. I don’t really remember her, but this place feels like her. Then she reached for the door handle. Come on!

Grateful that disaster had been averted, Ken opened his own door and got out. The ground was soft beside the truck, and his boot sank into it a bit as he stepped down. As he closed the door, he noticed his footprint, and found it strangely comforting. We do belong here.

They had been there twice before the closing to look over the house and the land, but this was the first time since it was back in the family. Everything seemed more significant.

The day was unseasonably hot for early September in Idaho. A light breeze wafted a spicy scent from the trees, and the buffalo grass was still a rich green.

They left everything but the papers and keys in the truck. Hearts thumping, they approached the little ranch house that now was theirs. Theirs! After unlocking the door, Ken made a laughing show of carrying Lu across the threshold, her hair hanging over his arm.

She flipped on the lights once he set her down and collected a kiss. He took the stack of paper, relieved to see the electricity had been turned on as promised. The mortgage papers made a particularly heavy thump, when he dropped them on the kitchen counter. Lu looked nervously at him as they did.

I know. He grimaced. It’s a lot of debt. If we can’t sell some timber fast, we can lose it all, just as quick as we got it.

It was the right decision. She lifted her chin. Besides, it gives you a chance to follow your dream.

I know. He smiled at her. It was now or never. Then he looked around, and swallowed. It’s just that Grandpa had this place yanked out from under him once. I can’t let him down and let it happen again.

She stopped the worry with a gentle hand on his chest. "We won’t, she said, and gave him another kiss. When he tried to carry it on longer, she pushed him away again, smiling. Let’s get the truck unloaded first."

Okay, okay. He laughed, although he really wanted to forget about the truck for a while, and they got to work.

They unloaded the pickup, opened some windows to get the musty smell out, and put the perishable food in the fridge, but otherwise did very little in the house. The power was on and the well had been treated, but there would be no phone service until after they set it up next week. They plugged in the phone anyway, and set it on the counter. Their furniture was in storage until next month. Until then, they’d be quasi-camping in their new home.

When he’d finished inflating the mattress on the floor of the kitchen nook, he snagged Lu’s ankle as she walked by. Let’s break it in! he said, laughing up at her, wanting her so badly …

She laughed, too, came to him and kissed him as he stood up, but when he pulled her toward the mattress, she shoved hard against his chest, and ran toward the back door, as he fell back onto the mattress on his butt. By the time he got to his feet, Lu had picked up the picnic basket and run out the back door, still laughing.

Loving her more at that moment than ever, Ken ran after her. She stopped abruptly, fifty feet out onto the lawn, and stood still, staring off into the trees. As he caught up with her, Ken also stopped. Holy cow. He stared over her shoulder, and put his arms around her. She leaned back against him, and they both took in the majestic sight.

The closing had been tedious, but it was done. The house and all three hundred and twenty acres now belonged to them. To them. He felt the smile rising up from somewhere deep in his gut. The house was nice, but they had not bought the place for the house. All but five of those acres were forest. A half-acre garden spread back from just in front of them to the edge of the trees. It was overgrown with volunteers from last year’s crop and weeds, but didn’t look like it would take too much effort to recover. To the right of the garden was the hundred-foot-long work shed that he planned to use as a drying barn and wood shop. It wasn’t the garden or the shed that held his attention.

Beyond the garden, the wood called to him, with dark trees, green leaves, and rich smells. Ken took the basket with the blanket from Lu, then took her hand. The two of them walked quietly along the side of the garden to the trees. Side by side they stepped into the shade. The beauty and strength of the wood seemed to make its own secretive stillness. Birds and insects sang in the quiet, and the air smelled of moss, spices, and rich earth. Ken stopped at the first large tree and placed his hand on the rough bark. This is for you, Grandpa, he choked, You can rest now. Lu squeezed his hand, tears in her eyes.

He would be very proud, she said.

They left the silent black walnut and walked farther in, still holding hands. It was easy walking under the walnuts, with little undergrowth.

I think so, too. Ken swallowed hard. He started out with nothing, and built up the farm, but every penny he saved went into planting these trees. It was his legacy for his family.

And now it is again. She looked up at him, her eyes glowing with happiness.

This was partly why he loved her. Because she … understood. He drew her into his arms. She was just a few inches shorter than his average height, which just made her that much more kissable. He smiled, loving the contrast of his jet black hair and her beautiful brown mane.

After half a minute, she stepped back with a twinkle in her eye. Come on! She turned and walked quickly on.

Ken smiled, watched her walk for a moment, and then followed, carrying the picnic basket and blanket. Lu was self-conscious about her walk, with one leg shorter than the other, but she only swayed a bit extra from it, and it had been that way since she was five. He liked the lilting sway of her walk.

As much as he enjoyed the view, he caught up with her quickly. As they rounded the corner of the little lake, Ken looked at the few remaining redwoods that grew together near it. The two little hunting cabins were in their shade.

This is good wood.

Thinking of tables?

And some sculpture, yes, but from the walnuts. I don’t think I would have the heart to cut the redwoods, unless they die. They are too beautiful for that. Jim promised he can sell as many walnut tables as I can produce from the root balls, though, once we can start harvesting. That will be all we need.

As they began climbing the gentle slope beyond the lake, he chuckled.

What?

You remember the realtor telling us the clearing up ahead was an old Indian meeting ground?

Sure, said Lu, and now her smile was impish.

Grandpa told me he left the place open when he planted because he wanted a secret place in the middle of the wood, where he could go to be alone with his beloved trees.

"Well, I think maybe he picked the place because it was an old meeting ground."

As he lifted an eyebrow, she laughed. Well, why couldn’t my people have used it? It’s a perfect place, and they would have met in a place just like this.

All right, he laughed. Wait a minute! I thought the Cherokee were in North Carolina or some other place back east.

They were, she shot back. Didn’t you say your grandfather had the seedlings shipped out here?

Yeah, he said, surprised. I did say that.

Well, they came from my people, then. Now that the land is back in the family, I’m glad he couldn’t cut them down.

You know, he said slowly, I think he was, too. These are nearly all black walnut from Ohio or New York, except for the redwood, which he got from California. Those didn’t do so well in the Idaho winters. I think the stand by the lake are the only ones left. Oh, and there are a couple of hundred red oak from back east, too, scattered around. Those aren’t worth so much; but altogether these trees would be worth fifty million or more in today’s market. It was his life savings, and he went broke when they barred him from harvesting.

I still think it was horrible how they cheated him. Lu’s eyes sparked. And it took long enough to correct.

You’ve got that right. He nodded. It was a heck of a fight, but— he spun around, his arms open wide, We won!

After a mutual laugh and another hug, he sobered. Actually, we may not be done fighting yet. I don’t think I told you, but the title company found out a few more things about it just in the last month. I guess they were going through old records, getting ready for the closing. The same councilman who blocked him from cutting the trees, making the land useless, also blocked the tax exemption, so Grandpa was taxed on the property value of trees he could no longer sell. When Grandpa went under, the councilman—Hood was his name—was all set to buy out the foreclosure. He couldn’t keep the anger out of his voice, even now, weeks after the company rep had told him. I’m sure the tax issues would have gone away right after it changed hands, and then the trees would have just disappeared, one by one. If that crook hadn’t been arrested for other things, I have no doubt that was what would have happened.

I bet your grandfather didn’t have any doubts, either.

No, he didn’t. He chuckled, remembering his grandfather going on and on about it. Grandpa foxed ’em, though. He managed to get his own injunction on the land, so no one could buy it back out of tax debt but Grandpa or his family. It took him long enough to get the back taxes overturned so the property could be returned to the family.

It had in fact taken their father and grandfather more than thirty years of fighting the government, before a judge had thrown out the back taxes and given Ken’s family the right to buy the land back without paying the accumulated taxes on it. By that time, Ken’s grandfather was long gone, and his father had not had the money to do anything about it. The exemption had been about to expire, when Ken exercised it.

They never did find that owl that was supposed to be nesting here, but we’ll still probably never be able to sell the land—not for a long time, anyway. Hood’s son is the sheriff now, and if he’s anything like his father, he’ll do everything in his power to keep us from being able to use it, out of pure spite. That’s why I think we might still have a fight on our hands.

Pretty slimy. Lu shivered. I’m glad he didn’t end up with the land, but we’re not giving up, this time. Let’s talk about something else.

I still want to keep most of the wood intact.

I’m glad, she said softly, as they approached the clearing. "This place is sacred, no matter what happened here before. It was made sacred by the struggles in your family."

The clearing was as welcoming and peaceful as they remembered. The grass was lush and green under the early September sunshine. Rain was expected later in the day, but it was clear blue for now. A doe and two fawns bounded away as they approached. A mountain bluebird was calling at the edge of the clearing, its brilliant color flashing. They laid out the blanket in the center of the clearing, and stretched out under the warm sun. Lu started to get their lunch out, but Ken pulled her back from the basket.

Dessert first! He pulled her to him.

With a laugh, she came into his arms. I want to tell my baby she got started here, she murmured into his neck.

She? He rolled half onto her, laughing. Don’t you mean, ‘he’? And doesn’t the man get to decide that one?

Her eyes half lidded, Lu looked up at him. I’ll take whatever you give me, my love, but today is the day.

* * *

Impossibly far away in terms that made any sense to Ken and Lu, a cylinder smaller than their pickup truck was just passing the orbit of Mars. It had been approaching the solar system for the last three Earth years, ever since it had detected unusual radio energy output as it passed along the galactic arm.

It had changed course and headed in the direction of the little yellow sun, focusing its immense abilities on determining the source of that energy. The closer it got to the system, the more complex and varied the transmissions became. By the time the tiny probe was entering the cometary Oort cloud, it had determined not only that the transmissions were not natural, but that they were coming from the third planet out, and represented a crude technological civilization. By that time, it had learned to interpret which signals were representations of sound, and which were representations of crude visual images, presented in small segments, a rectangle at a time. It had been recording all manner of video and sound transmissions for the past two years.

The dominant species appeared to have many interesting traits, from the many scraps that were caught by the probe. The probe had learned the dominant language well enough to use it, and interpretation of video signals allowed it to develop proficiency with the language.

Now approaching the planet, it decided on a contact protocol. Every species was different, as was every planet. Judging by the signals it had received, the probe determined that the dominant species here, which called itself Human and their planet Earth, was both paranoid and trusting, both aggressive and gregarious, and generally violent. They would have to be approached very carefully. The probe was not concerned about what the natives might do to it, although scorch marks along its side bore testimony to attempts to commandeer or destroy it in deep space. It was more concerned with failing in its primary mission, should it trigger a general paranoid response from the dominant species.

The probe decided on a low-level approach. From what it had seen of the ever-richer signals it was receiving, approaching publicly would almost certainly cause a violently paranoid panic-reaction, and might even trigger a planet-wide war. Only by approaching individuals or very small groups would it have a chance to make a peaceful approach. Above all, it must not be seen to harm any of the dominant species.

As it got closer to the planet, it realized that the debris in orbit around the planet was largely metal. The civilization was already space-going. That meant they probably had the ability to see the probe, and perhaps had seen it already. It was certainly reflecting enough light from the local star to be visible. This was the most dangerous aspect of its approach. It could not afford to maneuver out here, or wait for more detailed analysis before getting on the ground. It needed to get down on the planet and hide as quickly as possible, then look for opportunities to make contact peacefully.

The probe analyzed its situation, and determined the course of action with the highest probability of a successful mission. The local star system was at an early enough state of maturity that meteors would still be fairly common. It would have to pretend to be a meteor, coming in on a ballistic trajectory until it actually hit, using its gravitic shielding to protect itself. It would create a fireball and a small crater, but then it could move out of the area and hide before any natives came to investigate. It scanned for open areas of low population where the dominant language was used. It was moving toward Earth in general, but as the instruments aboard it read more detailed data coming from the liquid water world, it adjusted its direction several times, until it was aiming near the center of one of the larger land masses.

Right at a little clearing in the midst of a wood.

* * *

He certainly is taking his time, Lu thought, arching her back in a combination of joy, frustration, and eagerness. She knew Ken was as eager as she was, and was going slow because he loved her so, but she wanted to get their baby started with an intensity she had never felt in her life.

Please, she whispered.

* * *

Jill! Come look at this. Zack adjusted the instruments and his glasses, and frowned at the numbers on his primary screen. He watched the secondary screen come into sharper focus.