[Off-topic] Cuda1337:
Over four months later Jack was back to see Nate again. This time he brought

a laptop with him - a specially modified laptop. It had a solar recharger,

special filters and seals to keep out the sand, a satellite link-up, and a

special keyboard and joystick that Jack hoped that a fifteen-foot

rattlesnake would be able to use. And, it had been hacked to not give out

its location to the satellite.

After that Jack could e-mail Nate to keep in touch, but still visited him

fairly regularly - at least once or twice a year.

After the first year, Jack quit his job. For some reason, with the wisdom he

'd been given, and the knowledge that he could live for over 150 years,

working in a nine to five job for someone else didn't seem that worthwhile

any more. Jack went back to school.

Eventually, Jack started writing. Perhaps because of the wisdom, or perhaps

because of his new perspective, he wrote well. People liked what he wrote,

and he became well known for it. After a time, Jack bought an RV and started

traveling around the country for book signings and readings.

But, he still remembered to drop by and visit Nate occasionally.

On one of the visits Nate seemed quieter than usual. Not that Nate had been

a fountain of joy lately. Jack's best guess was that Nate was still missing

Samuel, and though Jack had tried, he still hadn't been able to replace

Samuel in Nate's eyes. Nate had been getting quieter each visit. But on this

visit Nate didn't even speak when Jack walked up to the lever. He nodded at

Jack, and then went back to staring into the desert. Jack, respecting Nate's

silence, sat down and waited.

After a few minutes, Nate spoke. "Jack, I have someone to introduce you to."

Jack looked surprised. "Someone to introduce me to?" Jack looked around, and

then looked carefully back at Nate. "This something to do with the Big Guy?

"No, no," replied Nate. "This is more personal. I want you to meet my son."

Nate looked over at the nearest sand dune. "Sammy!"

Jack watched as a four foot long desert rattlesnake crawled from behind the

dune and up to the stone base of the lever.

"Yo, Jack," said the new, much smaller snake.

"Yo, Sammy" replied Jack. Jack looked at Nate. "Named after Samuel, I

assume?"

Nate nodded. "Jack, I've got a favor to ask you. Could you show Sammy around

for me?" Nate unwrapped himself from the lever and slithered over to the

edge of the stone and looked across the sands. "When Samuel first told me

about the world, and brought me books and pictures, I wished that I could go

see it. I wanted to see the great forests, the canyons, the cities, even the

other deserts, to see if they felt and smelled the same. I want my son to

have that chance - to see the world. Before he becomes bound here like I

have been.

"He's seen it in pictures, over the computer that you brought me. But I hear

that it's not the same. That being there is different. I want him to have

that. Think you can do that for me, Jack?"

Jack nodded. This was obviously very important to Nate, so Jack didn't even

joke about taking a talking rattlesnake out to see the world. "Yeah, I can

do that for you, Nate. Is that all you need?" Jack could sense that was

something more.

Nate looked at Sammy. Sammy looked back at Nate for a second and then said,

"Oh, yeah. Ummm, I've gotta go pack. Back in a little bit Jack. Nice to meet

ya!" Sammy slithered back over the dune and out of sight.

Nate watched Sammy disappear and then looked back at Jack. "Jack, this is my

first son. My first offspring through all the years. You don't even want to

know what it took for me to find a mate." Nate grinned to himself. "But

anyway, I had a son for a reason. I'm tired. I'm ready for it to be over. I

needed a replacement."

Jack considered this for a minute. "So, you're ready to come see the world,

and you wanted him to watch the lever while you were gone?"

Nate shook his head. "No, Jack - you're a better guesser than that. You've

already figured out - I'm bound here - there's only one way for me to leave

here. And I'm ready. It's my time to die."

Jack looked more closely at Nate. He could tell Nate had thought about

this - probably for quite a while. Jack had trouble imagining what it would

be like to be as old as Nate, but Jack could already tell that in another

hundred or two hundred years, he might be getting tired of life himself.

Jack could understand Samuel's decision, and now Nate's. So, all Jack said

was, "What do you want me to do?"

Nate nodded. "Thanks, Jack. I only want two things. One - show Sammy around

the world - let him get his fill of it, until he's ready to come back here

and take over. Two - give me the fourth request.

"I can't just decide to die, not any more than you can. I won't even die of

old age like you eventually will, even though it'll be a long time from now.

I need to be killed. Once Sammy is back here, ready to take over, I'll be

able to die. And I need you to kill me.

"I've even thought about how. Poisons and other drugs won't work on me. And

I've seen pictures of snakes that were shot - some of them live for days, so

that's out too. So, I want you to bring back a sword.

Nate turned away to look back to the dune that Sammy had gone behind. "I'd

say an axe, but that's somewhat undignified - putting my head on the ground

or a chopping block like that. No, I like a sword. A time-honored way of

going out. A dignified way to die. And, most importantly, it should work,

even on me.

"You willing to do that for me, Jack?" Nate turned back to look at Jack.

"Yeah, Nate," replied Jack solemnly, "I think I can handle that."

Nate nodded. "Good!" He turned back toward the dune and shouted, "Sammy!

Jack's about ready to leave!" Then quietly, "Thanks, Jack."

Jack didn't have anything to say to that, so he waited for Sammy to make it

back to the lever, nodded to him, nodded a final time to Nate, and then

headed into the desert with Sammy following.

Over the next several years Sammy and Jack kept in touch with Nate through

e-mail as they went about their adventures. They made a goal of visiting

every country in the world, and did a respectable job of it. Sammy had a

natural gift for languages, as Jack expected he would, and even ended up

acting as a translator for Jack in a few of the countries. Jack managed to

keep the talking rattlesnake hidden, even so, and by the time they were

nearing the end of their tour of countries, Sammy had only been spotted a

few times. While there were several people that had seen enough to startle

them greatly, nobody had enough evidence to prove anything, and while a few

wild rumors and storied followed Jack and Sammy around, nothing ever hit the

newspapers or the public in general.

When they finished the tour of countries, Jack suggested that they try some

undersea diving. They did. And spelunking. They did that too. Sammy finally

drew the line at visiting Antarctica. He'd come to realize that Jack was

stalling. After talking to his Dad about it over e-mail, he figured out that

Jack probably didn't want to have to kill Nate. Nate told Sammy that humans

could be squeamish about killing friends and acquaintances.

So, Sammy eventually put his tail down (as he didn't have a foot) and told

Jack that it was time - he was ready to go back and take up his duties from

his dad. Jack, delayed it a little more by insisting that they go back to

Japan and buy an appropriate sword. He even stretched it a little more by

getting lessons in how to use the sword. But, eventually, he'd learned as

much as he was likely to without dedicating his life to it, and was

definitely competent enough to take the head off of a snake. It was time to

head back and see Nate.

When they got back to the US, Jack got the old RV out of storage where he

and Sammy had left it after their tour of the fifty states, he loaded up

Sammy and the sword, and they headed for the desert.

When they got to the small town that Jack had been trying to find those

years ago when he'd met Nate, Jack was in a funk. He didn't really feel like

walking all of the way out there. Not only that, but he'd forgotten to

figure the travel time correctly, and it was late afternoon. They'd either

have to spend the night in town and walk out tomorrow, or walk in the dark.

As Jack was afraid that if he waited one more night he might lose his

resolve, he decided that he'd go ahead and drive the RV out there. It was

only going to be this once, and Jack would go back and cover the tracks

afterward. They ought to be able to make it out there by nightfall if they

drove, and then they could get it over tonight.

Jack told Sammy to e-mail Nate that they were coming as he drove out of

sight of the town on the road. They then pulled off the road and headed out

into the desert.

Everything went well, until they got to the sand dunes. Jack had been

nursing the RV along the whole time, over the rocks, through the creek beds,

revving the engine the few times they almost got stuck. When they came to

the dunes, Jack didn't really think about it, he just downshifted and headed

up the first one. By the third dune, Jack started to regret that he'd

decided to try driving on the sand. The RV was fishtailling and losing

traction. Jack was having to work it up each dune slowly and was trying to

keep from losing control each time they came over the top and slid down the

other side. Sammy had come up to sit in the passenger seat, coiled up and

laughing at Jack's driving.

As they came over the top of the fourth dune, the biggest one yet, Jack saw

that this was the final dune - the stone, the lever, and somewhere Nate,

waited below. Jack put on the brakes, but he'd gone a little too far. The RV

started slipping down the other side.

Jack tried turning the wheel, but he didn't have enough traction. He pumped

the brakes - no response. They started sliding down the hill, faster and

faster.

Jack felt a shock go through him as he suddenly realized that they were

heading for the lever. He looked down - the RV was directly on course for

it. If Jack didn't do something, the RV would hit it. He was about to end

humanity.

Jack steered more frantically, trying to get traction. It still wasn't

working. The dune was too steep, and the sand too loose. In a split second,

Jack realized that his only chance would be once he hit the stone around the

lever - he should have traction on the stone for just a second before he hit

the lever - he wouldn't have time to stop, but he should be able to steer

away.

Jack took a better grip on the steering wheel and tried to turn the RV a

little bit - every little bit would help. He'd have to time his turn just

right.

The RV got to the bottom of the dune, sliding at an amazing speed in the

sand. Just before they reached the stone Jack looked across it to check that

they were still heading for the lever. They were. But Jack noticed something

else that he hadn't seen from the top of the dune. Nate wasn't wrapped

around the lever. He was off to the side of the lever, but still on the

stone, waiting for them. The problem was, he was waiting on the same side of

the lever that Jack had picked to steer towards to avoid the lever. The RV

was already starting to drift that way a little in its mad rush across the

sand and there was no way that Jack was going to be able to go around the

lever to the other side.

Jack had an instant of realization. He was either going to have to hit the

lever, or run over Nate. He glanced over at Sammy and saw that Sammy

realized the same thing.

Jack took a firmer grip on the steering wheel as the RV ran up on the stone.

Shouting to Sammy as he pulled the steering wheel, "BETTER NATE THAN LEVER,"

he ran over the snake.

THE END