The Last Church

by Richard Lee

  A few seconds later, the words ‘POSSIBLE THREAT’ flashed on the screen in bright red. It flashed on and off for a full ten seconds. It would have flashed on and off on every television, computer, net visor and billboard across the city.

  There was a bright flash, harsh white light screamed through the skylight and windows, filling the room for a full second, before suddenly blinking out.

  The dome was down.

  And then Pollic heard a sound he thought he would never live to hear. The emergency horn. The sound was a deep, long wailing, vibrating his bones and rattling loose windowpanes. The sound of it alone was scary. But Pollic couldn’t leave the consul; he had to watch his daughter make it to safety.

  In the distance, he could barely hear the sound of air fights. Nearby explosions rocked the room. Yet he could not leave. He had to see.

  “Do you hear that?” Michelle’s voice.

  “Guess we better head to a safety zone.” Linda looked in the rearview mirror as she said this. The fighter jets were more clearly visible. A sudden white flash surprised her and she lost control of the cruiser momentarily. “Jesus, that was close.” Linda looked up. Above her the sky was hazy, like looking at dimmed cruiser lights in a heavy fog. “The real sky’s beautiful,” she whispered.

  “Oh no,” Michelle said.

  Pollic’s view changed from the hazy sky, which he thought looked better with the dome’s power surging under it, to his daughter pointing to the left of her.

  “Ground view,” Linda said.

  The floor of the cruiser vanished. The video sight of the ground below them replaced it.

  “Left, thirty-three degrees.” Michelle said.

  The video camera showed a young man lying on the ground, clutching his stomach. His chin looked to be covered with blood. A woman was kneeling at his side. She looked distressed and with no idea what to do.

  “I’ll mail an ambulance,” Michelle said.

  “No point. No ambulance is going to make it out this far if a strike goes full force.”

  “Then we have to take them in.”

  Linda was looking at Michelle. Always the noble one, Pollic thought with a smile. He wished they’d hurry up.

  Another explosion, much closer this time, shook dust from the ceiling. It floated down, interrupting the sight of his daughter climbing out of the now landed cruiser. He lost sight of his daughter for a moment as Linda moved slowly around the cruiser. It looked like she was moving slow, but he knew she wasn’t. She was holding a scanner. The green circle showed no blips of air traffic. Pollic suspected she was looking for more than air traffic. She was searching for the fastest route to the hospital.

  “What happened?” Michelle’s voice was just audible.

  “I don’t know,” the woman said. She sounded near hysterics. “He was walking and then complained of stomach pains and dropped here.”

  “How long has he been bleeding?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Finally Linda looked up from the scanner.

  Pollic was proud of his daughter. In the midst of danger such as now, she remained calm and asked all the right questions before checking him herself. He watched as...

  Michelle rolled him over onto his back.

  “Hi.” The man’s voice sounded fine, very happy in fact.

  “Where does it hurt?”

  “It doesn’t.” He grabbed her and pulled her close to him...

  The sound of his daughter’s scream was painful to his ears...

  “Michelle, what’s going on!?” Linda moved forward.

  Michelle was slumped on the man. Slowly her body rolled off and...

  Officer Pollic felt bile rush up his throat, could taste it in his mouth, and then saw it spinning through the holo screen. He’d never seen a cut like that. The gash was wide and his daughter’s neck was opened like some primary school kid’s attempt at writing the letter U.

  He looked around for support or help of some sort, but for once the room was empty. And he remembered the emergency alarm. His eyes went back to the screen.

  Linda had drawn her phaser. Her aim was shaky. Near the man, the bolt of electricity slammed into the fence. He looked at Linda. He looked impressed and was on his feet in a second, charging her. Linda dropped her phaser. The man never glanced at it...

  For some reason, Pollic found himself watching the woman. Her blank expression told him two things. Number one, she wasn’t a hostage. Number two, she didn’t really like seeing this, but looked to have accepted it.

  The lady’s face disappeared from view. He had a close up of the killer. The man looked very familiar but he couldn’t place him.

  It was the eyes. There was just something about the eyes. A sparkle he should be able to place. Suddenly like lightning it came to him.

  No way, Pollic thought.

  But the more he stared at those eyes, so full of life and beaming with joy, the more he was convinced of who he was watching.

  He had to alert everybody. Get some back up out there, maybe it’s not too late, yet.

  “Computer,” he said. “Officers down. Send back up to...”

  Where? Where had they gone? Damn it. He would have to wait for the end before searching the computer file. But he couldn’t do that.

  “Computer, send a message to every available officer in this department still in the building. Message reads...” Pollic swallowed hard and took a deep breath. “Message reads,” he repeated. “Officers in one-seven-three situation, happening now on holo screen three.”

  All he could do now was wait for others with a higher ranking to arrive and take charge as they always did.

  He couldn’t watch the screen anymore. The dead man started chanting, eerily voiced words sending shivers down his spine. Quickly he deactivated the audio and was wrapped in a heavy silence. He turned his chair around and faced the door.

  His daughter walked through the door. “Hi, Dad.” She was smiling and looking as lovely as ever.

  Office Pollic almost believed the vision. He shook his head to clear it and realized he was crying.

  “Peter, we have to go now.” Rachael’s voice was urgent with worry wrapping the sounds in a thick blanket of seriousness.

  Peter was on his knees, holding the dagger in front of him. His eyes were open but weren’t focused on anything. He looked as if he hadn’t heard her.

  “We must leave now. The police have cameras in their eyes. Everything’s been copied to hard-drive.” Rachael realized she was near panic and that wouldn’t help the situation. She took several long deep breaths to calm herself, but it didn’t seem to work. Losing Peter so soon was not an option she could bear. “Please, we must go now.”

  Slowly Peter stood up, still chanting. The words were sweet music to her ears. He walked towards her, the words warmed her chills, comforted her, and she felt the panic slipping away. The stress leaked from her pores.

  An inch from her, he stopped chanting. His face was relaxed...and clean. The blood, which had covered it, was gone. She looked around her. The two police officers were also gone. The cruiser was still here.

  Suddenly, Peter reached forward, placed his hand behind her head and kissed her hard on the mouth. He kissed her with a passion and fire she had never felt before. She responded with a hunger so ravenous that she feared it could never be fully sated.

  Peter broke the kiss. “Shall we take a ride?” he said, nodding towards the cruiser. “I do need to find something, and this mode of transportation I can handle.” He smiled.

  “It won’t start. The computer will analyze your DNA before start-up.”

  “Wow,” he replied. “I like the technology of this world.”

  This was a side of Peter she never expected. Joyful and joking around did not seem to suit him and what she had seen. But there he was with a big grin on his face and walking as calm as could be to the cruiser. He pressed his hand to the door and it slid open.

  “Get in,” he said.

  Stunned, Rachael followed
him. She pressed her hand to the other door and it too slid open. She sat in the passenger seat, which was too large for her, and got a surprise when it automatically adjusted to fit her comfortably.

  “It did that to me, too.” Peter was still smiling. And out of the blue, he said, “Where’s my computer?”

  It seemed like hours, but Officer Pollic knew logically it had only taken a minute at the most before someone answered his call. The last person he wanted to show up was exactly the person first to enter. His son, Tom.

  “Dad, didn’t you hear the siren?”

  He hadn’t answered the call after all; he was looking for his father. Quickly, Officer Pollic stood up and placed his hands on Tom’s shoulders, turning him around and hoping he hadn’t seen what was on the holo screen. He led his son towards the door.

  Captain Burke suddenly blocked the way. He was a tall man with a belly that extended past his shoes. “What the hell’s going on, Pollic?”

  “The holo screen, sir.” He turned around and saw the two Ps sipping coffee. Their visors were off and the viewing screen behind Phillip was blank. No warnings were on it, nor any flashing alert messages. From the view, they were the only people there.

  “What about it?”

  Pollic shook his head. “No, I wasn’t watching this, sir,” he said. “Screen two must have shut down again.” He went to his seat. “I hate to say this, but I witnessed my daughter, Michelle, and Officer Stone...” His voice broke. Quickly regaining his composure, he continued, “They have been...” he barely managed to say it, “killed.”

  “What?” Captain Burke and Tom said at the same time. They rushed forward to the holo screen.

  Officer Pollic started crying again. Voicing it seemed to make Michelle and Linda’s death all the more real.

  He watched the captain tap away at the holo keyboard. Then run his hands through his hair. The captain typed fast. “What the...” He looked confused and gave Pollic a suspicious look.

  “Dad, we can’t find anything. Call it up on the computer. You’re logged in so it will respond only to you.”

  “And me,” the captain said. He sounded angry. “Computer find Stone retina 337-2241.”

  “Processing request now.” The computer’s voice was bland. It sounded more robotic then ever before. But Pollic knew it was only a trick of the ears. “Request found.”

  “Play it,” Tom blurted out.

  “Your voice pattern is not recognized as ‘User.’

  Captain Burke boomed, “Play it.”

  On the screen, Michelle and Linda were discussing the shift’s route. The holo clock read 0320. All they could see was the holo notepad.

  “Fast forward,” the captain said, “to zero six forty.”

  The screen flashed and suddenly he could see Michelle’s hand pointing in the distance. The cloud of black bombers from the German/Arabian army flew in attack formation. The planes fanned out into a V shape.

  Pollic heard his daughter’s voice. The tones drilled spikes into his heart.

  “Are they ours?” Michelle.

  “Can’t tell. Too far away.”

  “What shall we do?”

  After a moment Linda said, “We’ll go do East area first then come back here.”

  “I’ll send an emergency email.”

  “We have to get someone to the East area,” Pollic said, but neither the captain nor Tom responded.

  A moment later came the conversation he would never forget.

  “Do you hear that?” Michelle’s voice.

  “Guess we better head to a safety zone.” Linda looked in the rearview mirror as she said this. The fighter jets were more clearly visible. A sudden white flash surprised her and she lost control of the cruiser momentarily. “Jesus, that was close.” Linda looked up. Above her the sky was hazy like looking at dimmed cruiser lights in a heavy fog. “The real sky’s beautiful,” she whispered.

  And then it changed...

  Michelle said, “I’m worried about those bombers, aren’t you?”

  “Think we should head to a safety zone?” Linda was looking at Michelle, who nodded, yes.

  “Area Seventeen has a police bunker.”

  “You don’t think we’d need something like that, do you?” Michelle’s voice was warped with worry. “Surely it can’t get that bad.”

  Officer Pollic stared at the screen. “That’s not what I saw,” he said, leaning forward to see the screen better.

  “How can that not be what you saw?” Captain Burke asked.

  “It isn’t. No, this is all wrong. They found someone injured and went to assist him. He was faking and now they’re dead.”

  “Dad, they went to Area Seventeen.” Tom wrapped his arm around his father. “I’m sure they’re fine.”

  “Then check.”

  “We will as soon as the raid is over.”

  Officer Pollic realized he hadn’t heard or felt any bombing for a while now. “It’s over already. Call them, please, Tom, do it.”

  “Okay, Dad,” he said, but his voice betrayed his true feelings of wasting time. “Computer, contact Michelle Pollic.”

  “Your voice pattern is not recognized as ‘User.’

  Captain Burke said, “Contact Michelle Pollic.”

  “Performing request, please wait.”

  A full minute passed.

  “Unavailable at present, please try again later.”

  “You see, Dad,” Tom said, “Michelle’s in the bunker waiting for the all clear siren.” His voice was soothing and his words logical.

  But Officer Pollic couldn’t believe it. This is not what he had seen. Was he dreaming? He doubted it. He had never slept on the job before. But he was getting old. Perhaps he was too old for this kind of job. Had the stress finally gotten to him? Was he seeing things? His career was over now, no matter what the outcome.

  “Come on, Dad, let’s get in the safety zone just in case it’s not finished yet.”

  “Okay, Tom,” he said and let his son lead him through the door and down the stairs. Pollic made a decision: once his daughter was found safe and sound, he would resign. He couldn’t bear another vision like that. It was too painful.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The professor sat in numbed silence, staring at the frozen image of the last scene. He had watched the video twice now, trying to find something hidden there like most people try to find the answers to a magic trick.

  At first it was impossible to believe his brother was dead. Murdered nonetheless. Kyle had all the connections and the money to safe guard himself. Well, it seemed that way.

  Penny.

  They had wanted Penny, hadn’t they?

  Why?

  His brother had arranged the transport and he knew Kyle could be trusted, he was family. But what of his brother’s associates? Had they done something?

  A long loud droning noise, rising in pitch, interrupted his thoughts as he stared at the knife pushed hard against his brother’s throat.

  “Computer, stop video.”

  The area went blank.

  “Wall television,” the professor said.

  On the screen he could see the dull morning sky and a fleet of planes. War planes. Near the bottom of the screen flashed the warning of an attack. In green numbers the time 0640 flashed madly near the bottom of the screen. They were dangerously close. Suddenly he saw Area 51 planes in the air.

  It’s happening, he thought and added, I must get Penny to a safe place. Then he realized she was at Area Fair. How was he supposed to get her out? More importantly, how was he supposed to get there? All transporters would be out of commission. To get this close to the city, the German/Arabian force must have destroyed the dome somehow and that meant no flying and no transportation. He would have to drive.

  Would Kyle’s cruiser still be in working order, he wondered. It was stored fifteen years ago after the professor grew weary of driving and time wasting in the air going to work.

  But it was a nice car, he remembered, all dig
ital. And it had a secondary source of power, not enough to fly but enough to help him get to Area Fair.

  He would find a way to get to the storage area.

  Suddenly his house shook. The windows shattered inwards, the panels flipped through the room. The professor dove off his chair and scooted to the side. A panel hit the table, tilting it and the computer slid off the top. It bumped against the floor. The top opened and he heard the beep of it loading up.

  Spotlights flew in the room as they passed over his house. Neighbors were screaming and through the shattered windows, he could see people running down the street. One thing he couldn’t hear though, and that could be accountable for the loud siren, were planes flying overhead. There was only absolute silence against the bone rattling shrill of the siren. And it was scarier than what had just happened.

  He heard loud thumping, and knew the planes were dropping bombs further into town, not far from him, but far enough for him to take a chance on reaching the storage area. First, he had to protect Peter’s computer. It contained valuable data and for some reason, he felt like bringing it along. It would be as safe as possible in his hands and he wouldn’t be worried about it sitting somewhere at home.

  With the decision made, he scooped it up, shut off the power connection and gently placed it back in his carry bag.

  The storage area was a good ten minutes west. Luckily that was in the opposite direction to where the planes were.

  He moved gingerly through the kitchen. Pots were on the floor as well as expensive china from a glass cabinet, which was leaning against the sidewall with its doors open. The lovely display was ruined, but the professor didn’t give it another thought. It was, after all, only an expensive display. The windows here were also smashed and there was a large crack running down the wall between the two frames.

  He made it to the door that hung on one hinge with wires plugged into components set inside the wood. It was the first time he had even seen the workings on the inside of a door.

  Dale squeezed past the opening, afraid to touch it for fear of a shock. With the dome down, only emergency generators were operating so a shock wasn’t likely, but better safe than sorry. That was one of Kyle’s sayings. He had many but only a few he truly trusted and used. And ‘better safe than sorry’ was one of them.