This is not what I intended to write tonight, but it is what came out. I believe that this is the opening page to the second novel in the Project November Series. So, if you like it, let me know- Richard Polk

It was a cold winters night. Jack pulled the flaps to his parka up to his chin, to still the chill that he knew was coming.  It had been a little over a year ago that Jill had disappeared, and he was still dealing with the blow back from the events that had unfolded. Jack was no longer a fugitive, thanks largely in part to the secrecy of Project November and the important role he played in keeping it functioning. Of course, certain concessions had to be made, for starters he had to dismantle the prototype that Jill and he had scrapped to together that was responsible for sending her into the digital world. This was fine with him, in fact Jack had expected that to happen. One cannot simply fire of a powerful laser that has the potential to obliterate everything in its path and not be noticed.

Jack stared out of the military barracks and to the security fence that has housed the compound that he now called home.  Yes, he was no longer a fugitive, but neither did he have his freedom. This was a concession that he had to grudgingly agree to, if he wanted to keep himself out of some small dark hole in the ground and the two his two baby sitters that went everywhere he did. Well, they were there for his supposed safety, though Jack always assumed that they were there to make sure he stayed out of trouble. Not that he was going to cause any, Jack knew that he was where he needed to be when Jill would eventually reach out.

“Smoke break is over sir.” One of the guards said to him

Sighing, Jack looked at the unlit cigarette in hand and tucked it back into the carton. He had the same pack for the past couple of months. Jack had never been much of a smoker, he had only bought the pack at the PX (Post Exchange), so that he had an excuse to go outside.

But of course, there was limits and one them was that there was a mandatory curfew at 1 am. Jack was not fond of this, lately he had been doing his best thinking at night, but rules were rules and Jack wasn’t just about ready to break them. Turning around, he took long quick strides to the door, completely ignoring the guards that were at his heels. Jack returned to the lab where his nightly experiments awaited him.