The Never Army

by Hodges, T. Ellery

  He sighed. “I know you have reasons you aren’t telling me—I’m not doubting your judgment.”

  “Noted, now tell me what you’re thinking,” Olivia asked.

  “The one person who wasn’t in this room is the one who is supposed to have the answer to that question,” Rivers said.

  Olivia scowled as she understood, “Leah.”

  Rivers shrugged, throwing his hand up at Jonathan. “People don’t just flip a switch and become confrontational and manipulative. No twenty-two-year-old with zero training intimidates an entire room of career agents.

  “He knows everything about us, more detail than he could have gotten even if he’d had access to our personnel files. So, yeah, the person I’d like to get an opinion from right now is the one whose job was getting inside his head.”

  While he’d been talking, Olivia’s face turned back to cement. She’d stopped shaking. She wasn’t angry, but he could tell she’d stopped listening to what he was suggesting. Whatever had occurred to her eluded him until she whispered something he’d said a moment earlier. “Knows more about us than our personnel files.”

  It took him a moment to catch up on where her train of thought had taken her—the complete opposite of what he had been suggesting.

  “While I respect your position, it’s as you said, there are details of which you remain in the dark. I’m keeping Leah out of the loop on this for the time being—she is not to know what happened here today,” Olivia said.

  “Understood,” Rivers said. “Unfortunately, that brings us back to square one.”

  Olivia nodded, and stared past the glass again.

  “He said he wanted to talk to us, you and I, alone,” Olivia said. “So, if you’ve got any thoughts on how to approach this, I’m all ears.”

  Rivers gave a defeated shake of the head. “Think we need to hear whatever he wants to tell us. I’m not saying we roll over and show our bellies, just that we play along and see where it goes.”

  Olivia’s jaw clenched, but it was clear she hadn’t come up with a better play. She was about to flip the audio back on, but her hand stopped an inch over the switch. “Rivers, I was going to discuss this with you at a better time. Command and I are both impressed with your work. What Tibbs called a promotion—fails to capture the bigger picture . . .”

  Olivia saddened before continuing.

  “This woman he mentioned, Joyce, our vetting of your background never flagged her as a concern. I’ve also observed that you have a strong connection to Ms. Margot Kay, outside your professional relationship. Whatever these women are to you, if you accept the offer, they and anyone else will no longer be part of your life. Agent Rivers will no longer exist, and you’ll be expected to put your orders above everything else.”

  Rivers, understandably, was blindsided that she was telling him this. Still, it seemed she felt that if Jonathan was correct, she’d have no choice in the matter. Her hand still hung over the audio switch as she waited for him to reply. “I would never let any harm come to Joyce, but she isn’t long for this world. She has dementia, hasn’t even recognized me the last few times I visited. As for Margot, I can live with breaking contact if it’s necessary.”

  “I’m sorry you weren’t given more time,” Olivia said. “There may still be a chance you can reconsider; it depends on Jonathan.”

  “I appreciate that,” Rivers said. “But my gut’s telling me this is gonna get worse before it gets better.”

  Olivia gave one nod, then she flipped the switch.

  She leaned down to speak into a microphone nested into the observation room’s control board. “Congratulations, Mr. Tibbs, you have our undivided attention. Though I hope you appreciate just exactly what your theatrics have bought you. You’ll be spending the rest of your life in the deepest hole I can find for you.”

  Jonathan didn’t look up from his hands, “Yeah, that’s more inevitable than you realize. But I’ve got a lot to do before I allow it.”

  He looked up at the divider between them. “Raise the glass, Olivia, it’s not protecting anyone and you’re not a coward.”

  She sighed. He was right of course. All the protective measures meant to keep the exact sort of episode that had already taken place from happening were now futile pageantry. With the flip of a switch on the control board the glass division receded into the ceiling.

  Jonathan didn’t wait long once they were looking one another in the eye. He smiled at her, not smugly or knowingly, but almost warmly. “I think it’s important to love irony. There was a time I wanted to get my hands on whoever was running this operation just as badly as you wanted to get your hands on the alien. Now, I have to sit here and convince you that we’re friends.”

  The expressions he got from Olivia and Rivers’ after this statement seemed priceless to him.

  “You consider us allies, Mr. Tibbs? Do you make such grave threats to all your friends?” Olivia said.

  Jonathan shook his head. “Well, as friendships go, that’s a bit hypocritical. You spied on me for months, imprisoned me and my friends, and had I not let you know there would be consequences, today very well may have ended with a gun to one of my roommates’ heads. You should thank me. I’ve brought us to a stalemate before all of that.”

  “If this friendship wasn’t a fairytale, you might have a point” she said.

  Jonathan nodded. “That is going to make the rest of what needs to happen here difficult. More for you, Olivia. I’m afraid I’m going to have to continue taking from you the one thing you care about most.”

  “And what do you imagine I care about most, Mr. Tibbs?” Olivia asked.

  “Control,” Jonathan said. “You see, before the sun rises tomorrow, you’re going to lose control of just about everything . . . lose any certainty that you ever had it. The only consolation I can give you is one that you aren’t going to believe. Everything that is about to happen is something you helped me plan.”

  Olivia’s eyes remained humorless as she listened. “Will we be speaking in riddles for the entirety of this discussion?”

  Jonathan shrugged. “I need you to get over being angry. You weren’t going to give me a choice, we both know it. Forget what your subordinates are thinking and stop trying to imagine what you’ll put in your report. In time, you’ll understand that I’m helping you make the right moves. We’re all going to get where we need to be when we need to be there.”

  Olivia smiled disingenuously. “Mr. Tibbs, given the opposing nature of our goals here, I assure you that any further attempts to force my hand will not be taken kindly.”

  “Yeah, that sums it up pretty well,” Jonathan said.

  Rivers chimed in, “Speaking of goals, what exactly are yours, Jonathan?”

  “I have a few,” Jonathan said. “The main one is that this meeting ends with you two understanding that I’m never going to lie to you.”

  Olivia leaned in, a slight tilt of her head. “That sounds like you want our trust? But your actions are having the opposite effect.”

  Jonathan gave a casual shrug, “Don’t misunderstand. I don’t need you to trust my motives. By the end of the day, I need you to trust my word.”

  “It’s a tall order, Mr. Tibbs,” Olivia said.

  “I’m optimistic that we’ll get there,” Jonathan said. “I have to be. You see, something is coming for us, Olivia, and the fate of mankind is going to depend on whether you can take a leap of faith . . . faith in me.”

  Olivia raised an eyebrow. “For mankind’s sake, I sincerely hope you’re wrong.”

  A sad sort of smile crept onto Jonathan’s face. “I’m going to go above and beyond to change your mind.”

  “You say we’re friends,” Olivia said. “I’d like to understand how that is.”

  Jonathan looked down at the table. “I’ve seen you at your worst. It’s why I know that most days, you wish you could let your hair down, smoke a pack of Camels, and drink bourbon until you pass out.”

  Jonathan paused to glance at
Rivers. “This job is all you do. You don’t let yourself indulge in life. You’ll never thank me for this, but I’m going to do you a favor. Tell you something Rivers already knows . . .”

  She looked at Rivers curiously; he only shrugged.

  “Margot Kay doesn’t swing that way,” Jonathan said.

  Olivia sighed. “I do hope this is rapidly approaching a point!”

  Jonathan smiled and shook his head, as though he knew he was the only one in the room who saw the joke.

  “I’ve seen the worst of damn near everyone in this hangar and you’re tamer than most, Olivia. Take Rivers here, you’d be surprised—I certainly was—to know how proud he is of his physique. When he lets loose, it takes half a platoon to keep him from running through the hallways in his birthday suit.”

  Rivers blinked a few times before shaking his head. Though he seemed less willing to make eye contact with anyone.

  “Right,” Jonathan said. “I’m sure the eagle tattooed on your right butt cheek is a figment of my imagination—rather than something seared into my memory forever.”

  Rivers took too long hesitating; any attempt at a denial would be futile. Soon he came to mirror Olivia’s earlier statement. “Jonathan, is this really what you cleared the room for?”

  His expression wasn’t as smug after her question. Momentarily, he seemed to look genuinely apologetic, “It’s a warmup. You aren’t going to believe what I have to say—not today, not tomorrow. But, it’s the private thoughts, the little embarrassing details, the things you’d never act on and would never confide in anyone—that I knew these things, will keep your mind open despite all the reasons you’ll find to doubt me.”

  He sighed once, leaning forward in his chair. “See, by the time you leave this room, you’re going to go about your day as though everything I’m warning you of is a lie. You’ll think maybe I’m a mind reader—or precognitive—that somehow, I’m just making it all up as I go. But, you won’t be sure.”

  “How about we skip all that, give us a chance, tell us how things are,” Rivers said.

  “Of course, but don’t expect to believe. You can’t, and it’s not your fault—it’s ridiculous. Frankly, I’d think less of you if you did believe me,” Jonathan said.

  “Let’s hear it then,” Rivers said.

  “The short version, I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve lived through this day and the weeks that follow it. You could say I’ve technically lived through alternate timelines, or my own personal Ground Hog Day, if it helps.”

  At this, Olivia smiled with deliberate condescension. “Alternate timelines . . . Ground Hog Day . . .”

  A lingering tense silence followed. Well, tense for Rivers and Olivia. Jonathan simply waited a span then started spewing a series of numbers out, “One, Seven, Eight, Thirty-Four, Forty-Five, Fifteen . . . 340 million.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Olivia asked.

  Jonathan glanced at Rivers. “Sooner or later, he is going to try and call my bluff by asking for tomorrow night’s winning lottery numbers. The funny part is he never writes them down or buys a ticket.”

  “Well, we can put this to rest then, I’ll write them down,” Rivers said. Jonathan watched knowingly as Rivers realized that there wasn’t a scrap of paper in the room.

  “Mr. Tibbs, do you have any hard evidence that would let us indulge these fantasies?”

  Jonathan lifted his hands. “See, that’s the thing. I sure as hell wouldn’t believe me either. Which is why . . .”

  Jonathan paused to grimace at her. “I’m going to have to ask you to forgive me for the shit storm your life is going to be over the next few weeks. It’ll help to remember, it’s not personal, we’re trying to save the world.”

  “It sounds more like we have delusions of grandeur,” Olivia said.

  Jonathan leaned in further toward her. “Humor me a bit, pretend you believe for the time being. The first question you should be asking yourself is why? Why would an alien give a human the ability to experience alternate timelines?”

  Jonathan waited. Neither Rivers nor Olivia gave any indication that they took the question seriously. “I really can’t begin to imagine, Mr. Tibbs,” Olivia said.

  “Of course, you can’t,” Jonathan said. “But here is the funny part. That alien you’ve gone to so much trouble to catch, his ultimate goal is practically identical to your own. Everything he does is meant to keep mankind from discovering it’s under attack by a hostile alien species with advanced technology so that he can eliminate the threat. At the same time, he keeps his technology out of the hands of those who would gain too much power by possessing it.”

  Jonathan stopped to briefly spread his hands at the two of them.

  “The difference between you and him—he is trying to keep it out of the hands of all of mankind while you’re trying to ensure that the United States is the only country who gets their hands on it.”

  Olivia didn’t let her mask falter, but Jonathan had finally brought them to a topic she wanted to explore—the alien’s technology. So, she made a show of her willingness to listen.

  “Now, in some of those alternate timelines I mentioned, this charade wasn’t necessary. All I had to do was show you the evidence that an attack on mankind was imminent—not difficult—considering said evidence was trying to kill me. All I had to do was bring the enemy to you, drop it right in your hangar doorway. Still, each time, it took a while to really get us on the same page, but for the most part living proof was enough to get your attention.

  “Eventually, the Olivias in those other timelines came to understand that I was going to need the real you—this timeline you—to play ball when I couldn’t give you any evidence. You helped me plan how to get you to listen.

  “Which bring us to the ultimate problem. By the time this hostile species starts showing up in this reality, by the time I can give you your evidence, it’ll be too late for you to do anything about it. Mankind will already be up the proverbial shit creek without a paddle.”

  Jonathan reclined. “Good news though, I’ve got a plan to fix our whole evidence problem the moment I leave here.”

  Olivia stared at him a moment, trying to decipher his meaning. “Leave here? Am I to understand that you expect me to release you based on this inane story?”

  “Nope.”

  “Then . . . you plan to escape?” Rivers asked.

  “You plan to do something when you aren’t sure how it’s going to turn out,” Jonathan said. “I’m going to leave.”

  Rivers and Olivia exchanged uncertain glances. “You seem quite confident,” Olivia said. “Why don’t you tell us how you see yourself accomplishing this.”

  Jonathan chuckled. “No, I honestly can’t tell, but trust me, even if I could you really wouldn’t want to know the details.”

  Olivia closed her eyes, took a long breath, put on a fake smile, and opened her eyes again. “Well, that is unfortunate, but considering you’ve made a very unambiguous threat we will need to procure the information.”

  “Threats and torture,” Jonathan said, his smile never wavering. “You’re a sharp woman, but this is the part that always takes you the longest to get. And it’s not that you don’t understand, it’s that understanding makes you feel like you’ve lost control.”

  “What exactly is it that I’m missing, Mr. Tibbs?” Olivia asked.

  Jonathan sighed. “It doesn’t matter what you do. Doesn’t matter what I tell you. Triple your guard, surround the hangar with tanks, mobilize the entire base. My people have seen every version of how this goes. They know how you’ll react—how stubborn you’ll be. Bring good ol’ angry Agent Lindelof back, let him torture me all day. I’ll crack, tell him everything I know—and all it will mean is that my people change their strategy. Don’t worry, I won’t take it personally. I’ll still think of you both as friends.”

  “You’re saying it doesn’t matter what we do,” Olivia said.

  “Yes, but I want to bring this all ful
l circle,” Jonathan said. “The point is that I’m never lying to you. If I tell you something is the truth, it’s a promise.”

  He let that sink in for a moment, then added, “Now, when I do leave, you will have control over exactly two things.”

  “Is that right? How gracious of you to let us participate,” Olivia said.

  Jonathan held up a finger, “First, it’s going to be up to you if any of your people die. See, even if Rivers and the rest of this facility doesn’t, I know what you’re carrying around in your front pocket. I’m telling you this because when the time comes for you to decide if you’re going to use it, I want you to remember one thing. I could have disabled that trigger . . . but I promise you that I’m not going to.”

  Olivia’s mask failed to hide her discomfort—she’d lost track of the number of times he’d gotten under her skin. It didn’t help matters that she could feel Rivers’ questioning gaze on her.

  Jonathan held up his another finger. “Second, I really don’t care what you do to me. But you lay a hand on anyone I care about and this deal is off. My people will come in immediately, they’ll do their best not to kill anyone . . . but if you force them to move before they’re ready, there aren’t any guarantees.”

  Jonathan didn’t break from her eyes for a second as he said this, Olivia unwilling to look away. She was relieved, though surprised, when Jonathan was the first to look away.

  “We might want to dial it down a notch; Lindelof is about to be here with my pen and paper,” Jonathan said. “No one has told him you kicked everyone out while he was in the bathroom getting his nose under control.”

  There was a knock at the door. Rivers and Olivia swapped anxious looks before Rivers crossed the room to answer it. Neither wanted it to be true but neither was surprised when Agent Lindelof was standing on the other side. He had wads of toilet paper shoved in each nostril and was holding a clipboard filled with paper in one hand, and a pen in the other.