TRAITOR - Book 1 Warlord and Multiverse Series

Chapter 1 - Suicide and a Heart Attack

"Bye, Jason, have a good lunch, and a happy birthday!" shouted Jeff, cheerfully waving through his car window as he started to drive off.

"Bye, see you next week, Jason!" shouted Tom from the back seat. "Have a great day!"

"That was quite a ride. He's pretty good for an eighty-year-old. He seems to be pretty with it, as well," said Charlie chattily. "The hills in Perth can be tough. When I was migrating here from the UK, I thought Australia was as flat as Holland. I brought my old heavy bike with me. I have battled to get used to the hills. Jason went up the hills like a bat out of hell and then chatted about a technical concept of exercise physiology and wasn't even out of breath."

"You don't know half of it! He has been one of the strongest riders but is also very switched on. He has still been doing consulting work at a high level."

"That's interesting. What sort of consulting does he do?"Tom asked.

"He started an IT company in the earliest days of computers and says that he specialized in computer security. Later he was involved in 'ethical hacking.' He said that now his clients just want him present at meetings for reassurance. The real work is done by his daughter and the company. He says she's a 'mega-brain' and runs a very tight ship," said Jeff.

"Today is the first day I met him. He passed me as if I was stationary, going up that steep hill on the way back. When I caught up later and said how impressed I was, he asked me how old I thought he was. I looked at him and said, 'maybe 65'. He laughed and said eighty. How long have you known him Jeff?" Tom asked.

"I've got to know him pretty well over the last four or five years. He has an iron will, and never gives up no matter how steep the road or how long we ride. He's a fine man and generally a good guy. He's the first to stop to help if you've a puncture or have a mechanical problem, but he's got a very sharp tongue if you get on the wrong side of him. Andrew tried to pull a fast one a few years ago, on the committee, and had an unforgettable experience at the end of Jason's sharp tongue. He avoids Jason now like the plague!

"Harry told me Jason was a Colonel in Special Forces in Vietnam, and had a distinguished career. Jason never mentions it, and Harry says he refuses to talk about his experiences, ever.

"He's still pretty athletic and can climb hills with the best of the younger guys. That fall he had today really did shock him. He said his balance isn't what it used to be. He said he would love to be young again with all his experience, rather than an old crock waiting for the end. So, would we all!

"He also told me at lunch his wife has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. He seemed very upset about it. I'd feel the same. I don't know how I would manage without my wife's organizational skills," said Jeff.

"He said it's at times like this he feels his age, and can't believe he's eighty... except when he gets up in the morning, and feels all his aches and pains. I'm sixty-seven and some days I feel like I'm a hundred years old. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be that age. When he can't ride anymore, I'll miss him," said Jeff as they stopped at Tom's house helped him to take his bike off the rack.

Jason pressed the garage door controller and heard the two dogs frantically barking. 'That's unusual,' he thought. He pushed his mountain bike quickly into the garage and lifted it onto its stand. He tiredly removed the bike's computer and lights, put them into his bag, and put his helmet and gloves on the shelf. The dogs' barking became even more urgent. He began to hurry. Their bark was not the usual bark of 'hurry up, get inside, and rub my ears'. They sounded distressed.