Cosmics: Jack Harper

“Is… is there a doctor in the church?!” a woman cried out, fear and concern pitching her voice to a high screech.

Jack stood up, looking over the head of the man in front of him, and tried to see what was going on. It was his first time in this newly-built church near the heart of the new city. He’d seen it many of times during its construction as he walked past but until today’s Sunday morning service he had never been inside its grand, vaulted interior. Having recently bought a small apartment nearby, this church was his closest place of worship.

The pastor, a friendly, harmless (and, to be honest, slightly boring) man in his early fifties, had been giving his sermon when suddenly he’d stammered and fallen from the pulpit to the cool floor. Now two or three people surrounded the man – with more heading towards them - preventing Jack from seeing what was going on. His eyes rising to the ceiling, Jack grimaced, shrugged and then made his way forward.

“Excuse me. I’m a doctor”, Jack called out, striding forwards. “Let me through please. And give the man a bit of room”.

He looked at the minister who was lying on the floor, clutching his chest and having difficulty breathing. His skin appeared clammy and as grey as the hair at his temples. The man tried to call out something but his feeble words turned to painful wheezing coughs.

“It appears he’s having a heart attack”, Jack stated as he knelt next to the reverend. “Someone call the paramedics”

“Angela’s already gone to the ‘phone” said the high-pitched woman. Her deeply-lined face and grey hair indicated that she was much older than the pastor. However, although obviously worried and distressed, she looked far more alive than the man on the floor at that moment.

“Tell her to tell them it's a suspected myocardial infarction… a heart attack”. Jack paused for a moment and then asked, “Does he have angina?”

“No… no, I don’t think so” the woman said, clasping her small, wrinkled hands together in front of her. Jack nodded and then reminded her to tell the paramedics about the heart attack. He turned back to the man and studied him a little closer.

“Reverend O’Connor? I’m Dr Harper”, he explained in quiet calm tones. “I know this is a stupid thing to say but try and remain calm, okay?”

With a gloved hand, Jack reached out to the side of the pastor’s throat and tried to feel for a pulse. As he did, the man’s watery brown eyes struggled to open and then stared directly into Jack’s piercing blue ones. Their gazes met. As if seeing some great horror, the minister’s eyes opened wide in apparent fear but he could not pull his gaze away. Instead, he started to mutter something under his gasping breath.

“Domine Deus… spero per gratiam tuam remissionem… occulto mihi ex obscurum...”

To Jack, it sounded like an old-fashioned prayer. Being a medical man, he recognised the language as Latin but had no idea of the meaning. Looking away from those open critical eyes, Jack turned to a younger man who was standing nearby.

“Get some aspirin…” he began to say. Suddenly, the old man’s arm shot up and grabbed him around his exposed wrist.

Dread and alarm filled Jack first, flowing up his arm, through his shoulder and into his body. Then came rushing up the crushing pain of the heart attack - a heavy, gripping throb stabbing into his chest and taking his breath away. Darkness began to edge his vision. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to block the life-stealing tightness that began to send out shooting pains to his shoulders and arms.

The pain was intense - though he had suffered much worse before. He hoped that his curse would heal the blockage to his heart before he went and died. Again. But the pain and the panic were making it difficult to focus.

Jack collapsed to the floor, which caused the Reverend O'Connor to break his grip on Jack’s wrist. He lay there, trying to breath, trying not to throw up, and with all his will he tried to push the pain, anguish and fear away.

“My god…” he breathed through clenched teeth, unable to do anything more at that time.

The old woman had now come back and started to shriek when she saw that Jack had also collapsed. Her panic was relieved a little though when she realised that the pastor now looked better and was no longer clutching his chest. Another voice called out, this one male, saying that he thought the doctor was also having a heart-attack. And yet other voices muttered and jabbered in the background.

Jack grunted and struggled to open his eyes. His chest still burned with a torturous ache but it was bearable. Looking across, he saw the old man sit up with a look of wondrous surprise on his face. The woman rushed over to him to check that he was all right whilst a man, probably the one who had spoken earlier, tried to put Jack into the recovery position. His hands clammy with sweat, Jack managed to wave him away. He knew it wouldn’t help. He just needed time to let his cosmic power heal the physical problem, though the mental and emotion trauma would remain for some time.

The church wasn’t far from Millenia's general hospital and within a few minutes the paramedics had arrived. They checked both Reverend O’Connor and Jack. The minister seemed well but they still wanted to run some ECG tests on him. They advised the same for Jack. Jack was having none of it. By then, the heart attack had passed and, although he felt very weak, he knew he was out of danger.

“Thank you”, Reverend O’Connor said as the paramedics started to lead him out of the church. He then added, “And bless you, Dr Harper”.

There was a knowing look in the pastor’s eyes as he gazed at Jack. Jack simply nodded back and then looked away, feeling somewhat exposed. Distress from the heart attack still troubled his mind and he was finding it difficult to think clearly. However, what he did know was that he could do with a smoke to soothe his nerves.

Instead he accepted the offer of a warm cup of tea from the old woman, who’s name he discovered was Maria. Within half an hour, Jack heart had settled down and he was feeling much better. Using the excuse that he needed a breath of fresh air, he wandered lonely along the aisle and out of the main doors of the church.

Hazy daylight brightened as the sun reached its zenith.

Jack finished the end of his cigarette, dropped the stub and extinguished it with a quick stamp of his shoe. That first time he’d met the good Reverend was over seven years ago and, since then, he’d been back most Sundays to bask in the holy man’s soporific sermons and  lectures about smoking. Jack couldn’t quite figure it out but there was something indubitably likeable about Reverend Daniel O’Connor.

Shrugging, Jack pulled his jacket around him to keep out the cold winter air and headed off towards the front of the city hall. Even from here, he could hear the cheers and excited chatterings of the people gathered this Christmas Eve, waiting for their first official sight of the Cosmic Knights. Shoulders hunched, Jack strode forwards inwardly hoping the ceremony would be over quickly so he could return to the familiar comfort of a large single malt.

Cosmics: Destruction...

~ 7:00am, Tuesday 20th July 1999 ~

Jack Harper woke and turned off the alarm. A new day had dawned in Miami. Jack sighed wearily. For the past few years he had always looked forward to sleep. It was a welcome release from the pressures of the day. A pity, then, that sleep seemed to last but a moment. It felt like only a couple of minutes ago that he'd put his head down on the pillow at the end of the first day of a working week.

And now it was Tuesday morning.

Megan, his wife, stirred as Jack got up and made his way to the bathroom. He always got to use the bathroom first due to the fact that Megan left the house later than he did. She'd given up her job as a nurse a couple of years ago and now worked in the local store part time. She'd said working in the hospital had reminded her of the past and Jack had agreed that she should change jobs. Eighteen months later he'd done the same thing.

Jack joined his wife for breakfast after showering. It was a simple and quiet affair. They said little to each other beyond enquiring as to whether each other had slept okay and what the day's weather would be. Eventually, after getting himself ready for work, Jack picked up his briefcase, kissed his wife goodbye and drove away in his reliable Honda.

It appeared to be a normal, ordinary day in the life of Jack Harper, ex-ER doctor and one of the many current employees of GenTech Industries.

~ 8:55am, Tuesday 20th July 1999 ~

Entering the small Miami office of GenTech, Jack flashed his badge at the security guard and smiled at the receptionist. The receptionist, Clare something, smiled back and said hello. Although he was a doctor and a scientist, Jack didn't look like your typical science-geek type. He was tall, broad, plainly handsome and built like a linebacker. People tended to notice him, women especially. Jack tended to ignore them back.

Entering the elevator, Jack made his way to the labs, via his shared office. He'd been employed as a research assistant at GenTech for only six months now, primarily working for the Department of Advanced Neo-Genetic Experimental Research. As Jack entered the "DANGER" lab, as some amusingly called it, a voice shouted out a greeting.

"Hey, Smilin' Jack. How're things?" called a small, grey-haired man dressed in a bright white lab coat.

It was Bob Morgan. Doctor Bob as people called him and the man who had christened the department the "DANGER" lab. He was also Jack's boss.

"Not bad, Bob. How about you?" answered Jack, without the glimmer of a smile on his face.

"Ready for another stimulating day in the Danger lab!" Bob replied, a broad grin on his face.

Jack nodded, grunted and put on his somewhat more drab lab coat over his sports shirt and trousers. The lab coat was a little small for his frame but Jack felt reassuringly comfortable in it. Indeed, thought Jack, it was another day in the lab. However, it was far from as stimulating as his days in the hospital's emergency room. And for that, Jack was grateful.

~ 11:20am, Tuesday 20th July 1999 ~

Jack's current work was in the area of Engineered Negligible Senescence and (ultimately) involved trying to replicate the regenerative properties of certain amphibians in humans. A number of years ago, research had indicated that some mice had this ability and Jack now had the task of tying down what that process was and what genes were responsible for this capacity. He had it down to six specific genes and now had to see if these could be stimulated in the human genome to enhance the innate regenerative ability of people.

Jack was busy studying the possible use of hepatocyte nuclei when, suddenly, the fire alarm went off. He hadn't heard that a drill was scheduled which meant the alarm was probably genuine - albeit due to a minor fire in one of the other labs, no doubt. A second later, a young research assistant rushed into the lab.

"Hey, have you lot heard? They're getting everyone to evacuate the city", gasped the co-worker, a little out of breath.

"What?" said Doctor Bob incredulously. "Who're 'they'?".

Jack looked from his boss to the other man, a deep frown on his face. He hastily continued to put away his work. The research assistant shrugged and began to turn around, heading back the way he had come.

"Not sure", answered the man over his shoulder. He then added, "Someone said the FBI and Homeland Security had announced it. The military are getting involved. Everyone's heading out". He retreated out of the door and off to tell others his news.

One of his fellow workers had been tapping away on a terminal and he pointed to the screen.

"He's right", he exclaimed in excitement. "The internet's full of the news. The national guard has been deployed to get Miami clear. There's some sort of huge monster heading this way. Cosmonaut and the Professor are heading out to meet it".

Jack grumbled, the low, deep noise rumbling from well inside his broad chest. All he wanted, he thought, was a quiet life. Was that so difficult? What on earth was going on out there? Would the cosmics stop this creature? He had to get to Megan and make sure she was safe.

All of a sudden, the building shook, causing a few bottles to crash to the floor. His fellow researchers were already heading to the door, whilst Jack tried to clear away the dangerous biochemicals.

"C'mon Jack", Bob called from the doorway.

"Just a second!", Jack replied, although by then Bob had already rushed out of the room and was now half way down the corridor. Deciding to leave everything as it was, Jack took a stumbling step towards the open doorway.

It was then that the second, much larger quake hit the building...