"Yeah…and?" Aaron asked eagerly.
"We've developed a serum to counteract the effects of the drugs. The only problem is, we need someone to smuggle the serum inside the sectors."
"Do you have anyone to do that?"
Martin moved closer to Aaron, smiled, and said, "Aaron, your son is one of the volunteers. He'll be here within a few days."
4.1 (Confrontation)
Martin quickly rushed up the street toward the massive glistening building with the large golden letters standing tall on its peak: BABEL. He and Aaron had just finished drawing up the final pages of the policy they had been working on for months. Martin was quite confident that their plan would work and the research data presented within might sway the high council's minds in their favor. The high council was the true ruling elite within the Inner Circle. They were the ones who held the most power and authority over everything that was going on. Even though the Inner Circle was comprised of a few hundred members, the high council never let any of their plans or conversations heard from behind their sealed doors.
"Sir, sir! Please hold on a second!" Martin shouted as he ran to who he thought to be one of the high council members’ assistants as he was ascending the stairs toward the large glass doors of the building.
The man stopped and turned his head, staring directly at Martin. "Yes Martin, what is it?" he asked, sounding rather annoyed that he had been bothered.
"I'm sorry for stopping you, sir," Martin said, catching his breath, "But this is important."
The man continued staring at Martin, becoming increasingly impatient. "Well, out with it then," he said coldly, looking down at his large golden watch.
"I ... uh ... we, my colleague and I, have been working on this policy that we wanted to present to the council members for voting into practice," Martin nervously continued, handing the document to the man in front of him.
The council member looked momentarily at the document that was being held out in his direction before ripping it from Martin's hand. "What would you have me do with this? Bring it to the council for you?" he asked.
Martin straightened his posture and stared directly into the man’s eyes. "No, I would like you to review it and give me your opinion before we present it here ourselves." He paused for a moment and then continued, "If you had the time, of course."
The man shifted his gaze from Martin to the document as he held it up closer to his eyes. He was wearing a long, tan coat that draped down to his knees. Reaching inside one of the flaps, he removed a small pair of circular reading glasses and lifted them to a resting position on his nose. He flipped through several pages of the document in silence as Martin stood before him. After skimming through five or so pages he removed his glasses, placed the document inside his leather briefcase, and said, "That will be all Martin. I'll get back to you when I've had a chance to review it. Do you have any other copies of this?"
Martin paused briefly before answering, "No, that's the only one, sir."
"Right. Then I'll get back to you soon. Good day," the man said as he turned and continued his way up the stairs.
"Thank you sir," Martin said as he turned to head the other way. His mind was racing. Was this a mistake? He wanted to be sure that someone from the inside would be willing to back up the policy. He had previously worked with Nolan on one occasion, years earlier, and he had always gotten the impression that he wasn’t fully behind what the high council members were doing. Although Martin trusted his instincts about Nolan, there was always a chance that things could go wrong from here.
Nolan continued walking up the stairway before turning his head around quickly to see if Martin was still watching him. When he saw Martin disappear around the corner, he stopped, took out his glasses and the document that he had just received, and continued reading it as he made his way into the central building. He made his way down a large corridor lined with marble, gems, gold, and silver and stopped in front of a set of glass doors. He removed his glasses, and pushed the doors, which heavily swung open into a large room with bright red carpeting, rows of cushioned seats and desks, and a small line of elaborate wooden chairs on a raised platform in the center of the room. He walked to the raised platform where a group of six other men were seated, watching him as he approached. "What is it Nolan? You look troubled?" one of them asked.
Nolan continued walking with purpose, approaching a tabletop below the chairs and slammed the document down creating an echo that reverberated throughout the large, empty space. "This," he snarled, "This needs to be dealt with immediately."
There was a long span of silence before one of the men asked, "What is ‘this’?"
"It's a proposition, drawn up by two of our lower class 'comrades' that will completely dismantle and reverse what we've been trying to achieve here." Nolan picked the document up off the table and handed it up to one of the men.
The high council members wore long black robes, gilded with gold and silver. Most of the time, when in public, they kept their hoods up so they wouldn't be recognized by any of the other lower ranking Inner Circle members living inside the village.
After flipping through a few pages of the proposition, he handed it over to another council member seated beside him. "Yes. We will deal with this, Nolan."
Nolan barked back at the man, "How will we deal with this? It must be destroyed. This policy can't get out to any of the others here."
"Calm down Nolan," another one of the men said, "Have we gotten this far because we didn't know what we were doing? No, we are in complete control. The matter will be dealt with. Did you ask this Martin if he had any other copies?"
"Of course I did," Nolan hissed, "He told me that this was the only one, but I don't believe him. If he has an ounce of intelligence in him, he would have kept at least one copy for himself."
"Very well," one of the council members said calmly, "We will continue as planned. We will keep reducing the population steadily until we feel we have reached a size more easily controllable."
Another council member added, "The ultimate goal is infinite power. When we can control and manipulate the weak, dwindling masses, we can focus on having them work toward our immortality. Nothing will stand in our way. Not Martin, not this document, not God himself."
"Alright then," Nolan replied, becoming less agitated, "What should we do in the mean time?"
"I would propose that you return the document to this Martin, and give him an appointment to present the document to us. Give him hope that all of his work isn’t for nothing." A sickening smirk stretched across the council member's face as he said, "Then, on that day, we will squash him like a bug and remove the cancer from within our ranks."
Nolan smiled, removed his coat, put on his long black robe and took his seat among the others on the raised platform. "Then I will hand this back to him tomorrow and set the date for five days from now."
****
Martin walked briskly up a long concrete walkway surrounded by flowers and knocked rapidly on a large wooden door. After a short wait, it swung open and a voice exclaimed, "Martin, my friend! How are you? Come in."
Martin entered the house and stood in the middle of an elaborately decorated foyer. "Good morning Aaron," he said with a smile, "I have great news!"
Aaron walked over toward one of the doorways off to the side and made a gesture for Martin to go inside as he asked, "Oh, what would that be?"
Martin entered into a massive living area with several leather couches. He walked across the room and sat down in the middle of one of them. Down one of the hallways in the distance, he could hear Aaron’s daughter, Alice, giggling as she played. "How is little Alice doing, Aaron?"
Aaron smiled. "She's doing great. Growing up very fast. I guess we all do these days." He walked over to a silver tray near one of the high vaulted windows. "Would you like something to drink?"
"Sure. Some scotch would be nice," he replied.
Aaron poured a small amount of scotch into a shiny glass and handed
it to Martin. At that moment Patrick entered the room, standing in the doorway with Alice in his arms. "Hey there, Patrick. How have you been?" Martin asked.
Patrick confidently walked over to where Martin was seated and shook his hand. "Hi Mr. Lensky. I’ve been well, thanks. How about you?”
“I’ve been pretty good myself,” Martin replied.
"Is there something you need Patrick?" Aaron asked.
"Nothing that can't wait. I'll talk to you about it later on."
Martin stood up and walked behind Patrick so he could see Alice's face from where Patrick held her. "And look at you, Alice! My … look how big you’re getting," he said softly as he put his hand out for her to grab. She squeezed two of his fingers together and giggled.
"Martin had something he needed to talk to me about, Patrick. I'll come see you as soon as we're done, okay?" Aaron said with a smile.
"Sure Dad. I'll take Alice back down to her room so you guys can talk."
"Thanks, Patrick."
"It was good to see you again, Patrick," Martin said.
"It was good to see you again, sir," Patrick said as he headed out into the hallway.
Aaron sat down across the room from Martin. "So, what's the good news?"
Martin returned back to his seat on the couch. "Yesterday I handed our proposition to one of the people who works inside of the council chambers to review before presenting it to them. He just came to my house this morning and handed it back to me. He told me that it showed promise and we could present it to the high council in five days! It's actually going to happen! We're going to help those people!"
Aaron grinned from his spot on the couch. "That's wonderful, Martin! Do you know when exactly they want you to go in?"
"Not just me … us. They want both of us to come in to present the bill to them."
Aaron shifted uneasily. "Did he say why they wanted us both?"
"No, he didn't. I assume it's because both of our names were signed on it."
Aaron took a sip of the scotch he had poured for himself and set it down on one of the end tables. "Alright. What time should I meet you?"
Martin stood up from the couch and spoke as he made his way over to the front door. "Come sometime in the morning. We don't have to be there until noon, but we can review some things together before we head out. I need to go and revise a few parts of it now while it's fresh in my mind. The council member who came to see me this morning made some notes for me, some suggestions."
Aaron stood up and followed Martin, who was hurrying toward the front door to leave, and said, "Sounds good then, Martin. I'll see you in five days."
“Five days it is,” Martin replied, “Thanks for the drink.”
“Any time, my friend,” Aaron said with a smile.
Aaron shut the door behind Martin as he left. He looked over through the doorway into the kitchen where Patrick was sitting. He walked in and sat down on one of the kitchen stools. "Now, Patrick. What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
4.2 (Confrontation)
Several weeks had passed since Caleb had begun training with Alex. He had become quite a good shot with the rifle he was given. Things were becoming increasingly tense within the resistance group. Patrick was due to arrive with information on the flame tank transport at any moment, the serum that was developed to counteract the effects of the drugs given out inside the sectors was being produced in sufficient amounts, and the group Martin had given Caleb's EMP device to had been able to recreate about a dozen of their own from the materials they had available. Everything was falling into place, preparing for the assault on the flame tank transport group. It was only a matter of time now.
Aaron had recovered his strength. He spent much of his time with Caleb, Alice, and Martin as they went over the maps and strategies that were going to be used in the assault. The captain of the particular recon group that would be heading up the ambush was fine tuning the last few parts of the plan. All the people who were going to be involved in the attack stood around a circular metallic table with a tattered map covered with markings stretched out on its surface. "From what we were able to gather," the captain said, "this point here is 'Sector 27', and this point over here looks to be one of the execution camps ... or reassignment camps, as they call them," he continued, pointing at two of the markings made on the map. "Our scouts have reported that the flame tank arrived at Sector 27 several days ago. We are under the assumption that it was headed there for repairs."
Martin looked up from the map, over toward the captain. "How can we be sure it was sent there for repairs?" he asked.
"One of our spies inside Sector 27 had given us a rundown of the types of jobs that are performed there. There are several different kinds of work, but one of them is mechanical engineering. It doesn't make any sense to bring in the flame tank for use against the people inside. Our spy tells us that the drugs are administered there so almost every person inside is of no threat to the Inner Circle. There are a few 'trouble makers' that pop up every now and then, but they are dealt with quickly." The captain hunched over the table and pointed toward the circle that marked the reassignment camp's location. "The group that spotted the flame tank weeks ago first saw it just outside the reassignment camp, here. They reported that it had to stop several times on its way to Sector 27, and each time it did, a few members of the group that were transporting it tinkered with some of the mechanical parts under the hood."
From across the room the men could hear the chain links being removed from the set of metal double doors. Everyone's attention shifted toward the commotion. The doors swung open and a man dressed in a Guardian's uniform entered the room and stopped. He momentarily looked around the room before saying, "I’m looking for Martin."
The man was very tall and muscular. His rifle was strapped across his back, goggles covering his eyes. He walked toward the middle of the room and took the goggles from his face and rested them atop his helmet. "Over here!" Martin shouted from his place behind the wall of people. Martin made his way through the crowd to where the man stood. "It's good to see you again," he said with a smile.
The man in the Guardian's uniform nodded and said, "It's good to see you too, Martin. It's been a while."
"Yes it has ... too long, in fact. Come, this way! There are some people I would like you to see," Martin said as he guided the man back toward the table with the group surrounding it.
As they approached the table, Alice squinted at the man. He looked familiar somehow, but she couldn't seem to figure out why. Caleb remained alert. Seeing the Guardian's armor brought back memories of the grid, the fear that their presence used to stir up in him. Even though he saw that this man was with the resistance group, the sight of the uniform made him feel uneasy as he tightly gripped the handle of his rifle that was hanging at his side.
"Everyone," Martin said to the group around the table. "For those of you who don't know, this is Patrick. He's been an integral part of this group for a long time now. He's helped us by providing information on the enemy's movements, activity and habits, and getting people out of the Sectors."
Patrick nodded at the group. "It's good to see you all," he said.
Caleb studied Patrick's movements. Was this the man who helped get him out of the grid? Aaron's son? Alice's brother?
Martin called over to a young man who was standing near one of the screens lined up in the middle of the room. "Hey, Johnny," he said as the young man walked over to Martin and stood at attention.
"Yes, sir?" he replied.
"Can you do me a favor, son? I need you to go get Aaron, the man that we took in and brought back to health. He's a few doors down on the right side."
"Yes, sir," the young man said as he took off toward the hallway.
Martin looked back at Patrick and smiled.
"Aaron?" Patrick asked, “Martin, is my father here?"
Martin patted Patrick on the shoulder and said, "Yes he is. He's with us now. Your sister too. She's around here somewher
e..." he said, as he scanned the faces of the people surrounding him.
"Alice?” Patrick said under his breath, searching the sea of faces.
Alice slowly emerged from behind a group of people and took a few careful steps toward Patrick. "You ... you're my brother?" she asked as she moved closer.
Patrick stood in amazement. "Oh my God. Alice, is that you?" he exclaimed.
He rushed over toward Alice and examined her. "You're all grown up! I can't believe it's been this long since I've seen you!"
Alice nervously smiled and examined the expression on Patrick’s face.
Suddenly, to Alice’s surprise, Patrick picked her up off her feet and embraced her. "I've missed you so much," he said, hugging her tightly and returning her to her feet. "The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was leave you and dad. I knew it was something that I had to do, but I never stopped thinking about you guys."
Caleb stood in the crowd of people, beaming at what he was witnessing. He was so happy that Patrick was alive and well, and that Alice, who hadn't seen him since she was very little, was able to be reunited with him. Just as Patrick returned Alice to her feet, Aaron entered the room from the hallway a short distance away. He slowly made his way through the crowd of people to where Patrick and Alice were standing. As he got closer, he could see his son standing with his daughter once again. Waves of emotion poured over him. “Patrick?” he said through tearing eyes as he rushed toward him.
Patrick burst into tears as the two hugged each other. Alice watched the scene unfold, happy that she could finally see her brother who she hardly remembered, but had heard so much about … happy that her father was finally reunited with Patrick, after everything that had happened since he had left … happy that her father wouldn’t have to wonder if he were alive anymore.
"We have a lot of catching up to do,” Patrick said as he stepped back from his father’s embrace. Looking over at Martin he was suddenly reminded of where he was and what he had come here to do. "But first, I need to discuss the flame-tank."
Sector 27- Assignment Page 15
