Resolution

by Douglas E Roff

  “OK, what’s the plan?”

  “First, we don’t go for the Library yet, we wait until we have the ladies back; then we move fast and hard. We let the kidnappers, the Collective, and the Feds think I’m hurt or weak, and that’s what I want them to think. When they call, that’s what we’ll say. I can’t go until I’m fully recovered. Of course, we go to Plan B if they are mistreating the Ladies, Tar or Akira in any way.

  Kendra asked, “Plan B is?”

  “I find them in Germany or wherever they’re hold up and kill them right away.”

  “Do you know where they are?”

  “No, but I know who does. He’ll talk as soon as he sees me in Gens form. He has a lovely wife and three beautiful children in Chicago. They’ll go first while he watches.”

  “That makes you as bad as them,” said Kendra. “Maybe worse. You know better; they’re innocents.”

  “Hecate? Your thoughts please?”

  “Sorry little one, but Papa’s right. These are exigent circumstances and the polite rules don’t apply. We’re talking about a whole planet, including you.”

  Kendra kept on. “How low have we sunk when we threaten and kill wives and children?”

  “We are thinking and acting like an Immortal,” Adam said. “The same thinking driving Enzo and Paulo. If you need a yardstick, use that one. But what I have learned is that I must be dispassionate when it comes to all those who want to destroy us, and this planet. Fortunately, that’s not a lot of folks. Hate me now but, when this is over, you can hit me as hard as you like to take out your frustration with what I’m about to do.”

  “What makes you think I’ll be around to countenance this barbarism.”

  “Nothing. I have always been honest with my wives and followers; stay as long as you believe in me, leave when you don’t. Disagree, but if this violates your conscience, I understand. I will always love you, but there are no longer any rules in this war. I am not a gentleman, and they are after my family. What goes around comes around. Apocalypse Now; war is evil and, to bring it to a close, some of us must become monsters. So be it.”

  Adam smiled at Kendra.

  He continued, “But by now you know, all of you know, what a monster I was before; you cannot imagine what I’ve become now. This is ‘win at all costs’, ‘no rules of engagement’, ‘no mercy’ for the Fortizi’s and their allies.”

  Kendra shook her head in disgust. “I love you, you know that. I will always love you even though understanding you is beyond my ability at present. I’m in, but I hate you for what I think you’re about to do.”

  Adam stepped over to where Kendra was standing. “I love you little one, and if it’s any consolation, I hate myself for what I’m about to do. I assume a kiss is out of the question?”

  “Cold day in hell, I’d say. But try me later; I’m very quirky as you all know. I may forgive you under the right set of circumstances.”

  Adam was puzzled.

  “It’s been a while, dumbass. Needs often outweigh rationality, or so I’m told.”

  ***

  About a dozen souls collected themselves comfortably in the large lobby, and adjoining living room of a well-manicured estate in a rural Canton of Switzerland. Four were there involuntarily, six were guarding them and a few more were about to join the group.

  Two men walked into the living room, one taller than the other, both fit and well dressed. The older man spoke first.

  “I can see you have all been made comfortable and been well treated as our guests.”

  “Except for the kidnapping part,” said the young-looking girl. “We have been treated quite well. What is it you want from us, Paulo? Toys for your psychopath brother, money to re-start the non-existent revolution or just a date. I don’t think Tar and Akira swing that way, but you can always ask.”

  Enzo, long thought to be impatient with women who got too slowly to “yes”, made a move toward the girl. His brother stopped him.

  “No, nothing like that. In fact, we wish to be the most accommodating of accommodating hosts. Everything and anything you need, just ask. It will be provided as soon as we can obtain whatever tickles your fancy.”

  “A cell phone? Tickets to London on the next available flight from Zurich?”

  “Ah, sadly, no,” said Paulo. “That we cannot provide. But in terms of comfort, anything. Just ask.”

  “Why are we here?”

  “I’m surprised you’re even asking. I think you know why.”

  “And you think this will draw him out?”

  “No doubt in my mind. He both adores, and admires, the Ladies Cia and Eene, and if it could be said that Adam St. James had friends, any real friends, I would say that Tar and Akira would be included in the tight circle of sociopaths. But Adam St. James, the Chosen One, Chosen of Chosen, the Manti, and holder of a Ph.D. in some arcane branch of computer science, has no friends. He has no idea what a friend would look like. Friendship is a mystery to him; a genial science he tries to decipher every day without much luck. Without his crazy wife, I doubt he would be a free man today. That boy has left trail of bodies everywhere he’s gone. You think he’s coming to rescue you. That’s where the bet becomes fun.”

  “How so, Paulo?”

  “It’s like this. If he does come, or agree to our terms, we will let you go free, unharmed. That’s a gentleman’s promise.”

  “Does that ‘gentleman’s promise’ include your brother?”

  “Well now, that’s a good question. That’s part two of the bet. Enzo will want to spoil you a little before I let you go, but he has promised not to break his word to me, as a gentleman, to leave you alone. If your boy-king comes through.”

  “If not?”

  “Then Enzo wins the bet, you are worthless whores, and he will use you as he pleases. He will take loads of video, send it to Adam somehow, then post it to the internet. While I find such conduct both reprehensible and uncivilized, my brother doesn’t. So, there we have it. If you pray to any particular deity, I would begin soon.”

  “He’ll come, but you might have to wait a few days.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “He was shot by a stray bullet in Oregon; almost killed. That’s twice you failed, right? But he’s alive. He was in an induced coma when I left, but he’s still coming for you after he heals.”

  “Lie detector test?”

  “Sure. But your brother keeps his hands off me while I’m strapped in.”

  “Seems only fair. Why don’t we get started now?”

  Enzo was beside himself with rage. “Whether now or later, I will hurt you, Lady Cia. And I will enjoy it as I peel the skin from your girlfriend while you watch.”

  Paulo interrupted, always seemingly the gentleman. “By the by, did you two want separate bedrooms or the one with the big bed, and all those toys.”

  Lady Cia smiled. “One room. We’re happy to save energy by doubling up.”

  “OK then, let’s get started.”

  ***

  Paulo said, “She passed easily, even with chemical inducement. St. James is alive but damaged. We may need to wait a while.”

  “And I can’t teach the Ladies the lessons they so richly deserve?”

  “No, certainly not. I think it is time for you to go back to America and cool off. Go to Vegas. Engage some hookers; relax. It won’t be long now. Brough and I have found a place to constrain him; he wants the tech, as do we, just before we kill him.”

  “Fuck Brough and fuck St. James. I say we take him out the first chance we get. We exchange the prisoners for him, then kill them all immediately.”

  “A good plan that will never work. When St. James is ready, we’ll make an exchange in a manner that assures the women are alive and … unspoiled. And nowhere near him. Then Brough gets him first; when he’s done, he’s all ours. Otherwise, Brough comes after us too. We don’t want that, now do we?”

  “Do what you need to do. I’ll go back Stateside and go hunting for a while. I hear Colorado has
a fresh batch of young humans to hunt.”

  “You know I forbade that. When I find who helped you, they’re dead meat.”

  “Sorry, bro’, I’ll try to do better next time. For now, I’ll hunt and enjoy my prey.”

  “No doubt. Happy hunting.”

  Chapter 44

  The exchange was arranged between Misti and Paulo about a week later, with Lady Cia, Lady Eene and the entourage being dropped off at the international airport in Zurich; Adam surrendered to Brough and his men in, of all places, Las Vegas. He acted and looked debilitated, as if he was suffering from some condition that weakened his constitution.

  Adam was blindfolded and driven north out of the city to a gated turnoff, onto a dirt and gravel road off the main highway. After a ride of about an hour or so, the SUV drove into a tunnel hewn from solid rock on the side of a huge stone mountain jutting up from the desert floor. The SUV was then lowered a couple of stories down on a hydraulic lift; Adam was then taken out of the vehicle, walked down a hall and the into an elevator. After a few minutes, the elevator stopped, and he was walked again to a room and seated, shackled to a GI looking table in leg irons.

  He sat in the room, blindfolded, for a couple of hours before anyone showed up.

  The man sitting across the table in a neat suit with no tie was one of the G-men who helped take Adam into custody in a luxury hotel on the Strip in Las Vegas. He removed Adam’s blindfold.

  The man started in right away, “With what you know, you could help us. You could help us immensely.”

  Adam responded, “What exactly do you think I know? What else that I’m not telling you or going to tell you.”

  “Everything. As much as you’ve told your girlfriends and family, including our mutual friend, Alana McCarthy.” he said. “I don’t know how much more, but a lot more than you’ve told us so far.”

  Adam sat impassively.

  “You doin’ them all? McCarthy too? Damn man, beauty, brains and huge tits. You’re the man.”

  He laughed his lascivious laugh.

  “I’d be very careful what you say next, my friend. You’re talking about my wife, and I’m easily angered when I feel she, or I, am being disrespected. Mind your tongue. You’ve been warned.”

  The G-man ignored Adam, believing, as most would, that a man handcuffed and manacled to the table and floor posed no present danger to him or anyone else.

  The G-man continued on, “Alright, we suspect you know or have access to all the laws of physics, everything from the tiniest particles of matter, to every creature that has ever walked the earth, to all the secrets allowing the destruction of matter from garden weeds to entire continents; maybe even the entire world. It could aid us.”

  “Who’s us?”

  “America.”

  “And who exactly is ‘us’ in America?”

  “By ‘us’ I mean the Government of the United States. A country of which you’re a citizen and, very often, a very highly-paid employee.”

  “An ‘employee’, no. A ‘consultant’, yes certainly. But I don’t recall ever being threatened by anyone in my government. Except you, now, of course.”

  “Perhaps you just didn’t know the right people.” The man laughed at his own quip, and smiled a thin and insincere grin; Adam had already taken an immediate dislike to him, which was unfortunate. For the G-man.

  Dutch Serwell, the G-man sitting opposite the handcuffed and manacled Adam said smoothly, “Your knowledge could vastly aid the military and our clandestine services with tricky problems we face everywhere in the world. The NSA tells me that you and your ‘dream team’ of genius nerds are all national treasures. Surely you want to help your country in its time of greatest need? Don’t you?”

  Adam remained passive; Dutch could read nothing in his face or demeanor.

  He looked at Adam and continued, “And, if you cooperate fully, we would be inclined to leave you and your little nerd cabal alone. You could do whatever you want. Have as much wealth, and power as you want. I could even guarantee you could do whatever you want, consequence free. Just help us. You and your team.”

  Dutch, who worked for a clandestine service that even the other clandestine services knew almost nothing about, began to think that Adam could be convinced, turned. Money or power, or both.

  He was wrong.

  “And if I don’t ‘cooperate’, you’ll do what? Hurt me? Kill me? Do something to my family and friends? What’s the offer on the table, and the consequence of me saying ‘nyet’. By the by, that’s Russian for ‘fuck off’.”

  Dutch could feel the blood rushing to his face as his ire mounted. This little twerp was really beginning to piss him off and the file on this nerd had to be wrong. “Tough, lethal and dangerous when he or his family is threatened” it had read. Really? What a joke; this St. James guy had been apprehended easily and came along docilely.

  The only danger Dutch saw with this kid was when they hustled him into the back of a black SUV. They were careful not to bump his head on the roof as he was shoved, handcuffed, inside.

  After a moment or two to raise the supposed ambient anxiety, he said, “We will kill you, your women and children, your entire extended family, including each and every one of your relatives in Seattle. Then we’ll eliminate anyone and everyone who has ever known you. We will erase you from this planet as if you never existed.”

  “And you believe you can do that? To me and mine?” A smirk of derision slowly formed on Adam’s face, further infuriating his interrogator.

  He turned quickly, squared up to Adam, and said, “Smile now you little punk. But one phone call from me, and your family gets rounded up wherever we can find them. They won’t think you’re so funny as we slowly peel the skin from them while you watch.”

  Adam continued with his aggravating grin, as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Dutch’s facial expression and aspect changed suddenly and dramatically sensing as he did that Adam would not now, nor would he ever in the future, be cooperative with him, his Agency nor any other agency of the United States government.

  Dutch was right, of course.

  Adam repeated his question, “And you believe you can do that? By whose authority?”

  Dutch answered, “Yes, I can do that. And I have many times when circumstances were warranted. And we will again if circumstances suggest extreme measures are required.”

  “You have that authority? You and your masters must know what you are doing is illegal, and unlawful. I’m an American citizen.”

  Dutch smiled, “Not today you’re not. Today you’re a citizen of Area 20, and the rules are a little different here. I have full authority to do to you whatever I wish, and to anyone who gets in my way. I would prefer not to use the ‘nuclear option’, but I can and will. Think carefully and give me your answer. You have one hour.”

  “My answer is ‘no’, and I don’t need an hour or even a minute.”

  “You leave me no choice then.”

  “Meaning?”

  “The round-up of your entire family will begin immediately, and everyone you love will be in custody within twenty-four hours. Their fates are sealed. As is yours.”

  Adam’s face suddenly changed from mild mannered hostage to something very different.

  The door that Dutch was heading toward suddenly locked as if by magic. Three solid iron bars swiftly bolted into place, making ingress and egress impossible. When Dutch turned around to see what Adam was doing, he saw that Adam was no longer handcuffed or manacled to the table or bolted to the floor. He was standing staring at Dutch.

  “Have a seat my good man. We need to chat.”

  Dutch made a feint toward Adam only to see the chair he was just sitting in collide with his rear, forcing him to be seated. In an instant Dutch was handcuffed and manacled to the table in the spot formerly occupied by Adam.

  “Now,” Adam continued, “Who authorized this little fiasco?”

  “That’s above your pay grade. And in a few minutes, you’ll be back in
custody. Neat trick you just pulled, but you’ll never leave this place alive. We’re situated in solid rock deep in the side of a mountain; there’s only one way in or out. There are at least seventy-five men between you and the Nevada desert outside. Like I said, you’re going nowhere.”

  Adam chuckled, “You mean the gas your colleagues are supposed to release into the air vent will immobilize me while they break down the door and come to your rescue? Very James Bond-ish, but it’s never going to happen. I’ve already sealed off the air vent to this room and run a pipe to the surface to keep our air fresh and non-toxic.”

  “Impossible.”

  “Well, no, possible because it’s already been done. Now the gas that was meant for me has been re-routed to air vents throughout this facility, and right about now your colleagues are out cold, and sleeping peacefully.”

  “BS.”

  “Now, time for a talk. Who authorized this mission?”

  Nothing.

  “OK, have it your way.”

  Adam produced a cell phone, placed it on the table and on speaker phone. Dutch could hear the numbers clicking. In a few moments, two men’s voices could be heard.

  One voice said, “Hello? Who’s this?”

  “Hi Dougie, it’s Adam St. James. Just hold a sec.

  The other voice was one every American knew. “Hello. Is this Adam?”

  “Yes, Mr. President. It’s me.”

  “Mr. Ex-President, you mean. I’m in my super-secret hide out. How’d you find me?”

  “Decoder ring. In an old box of Cracker Jacks.”

  “What’s up, Adam?”

  “I need your help, but what I really need is for you to listen in on a conversation and take some notes.”

  “I used to be President. Now I’m a recording secretary.”

  “You’ll always be President, Mr. President. My President.”

  “You’re very kind.”

  “Recording devices are on, and I’m in Area 20, with Special Agent Dutch Serwell, who is working with, but not for, Director Brough at the NSA. He has something to tell us, and he’ll begin right now.”