"What are you talking about? After all we went through? We're lucky as hell to have captured one alive. I suppose you know everything there is to know about these things and, for some inane reason, I have to respect that you can't tell us. But that doesn't mean we can't find out things for ourselves."
"You cannot torture them. I won't allow..."
"Who said anything about torture?"
"Look General, this is more complicated..."
"President Gresson, if you aren't going to help us here, I would kindly ask that you leave."
Gresson stood still, gritting his teeth. He looked over at the body on the table. It's chest rose and fell and a wheezing sound was coming from its head. He looked down at the ground and sighed. "I can't risk telling you what I know. But perhaps I can't risk stopping you from learning for yourself." He turned and left the warehouse.
"If it wasn't for that Adron guy, we wouldn't have to deal with this," Jake moaned.
"Adron?" Valdez asked.
"Never mind."
Adam and a few other council members entered the warehouse.
"Where is Gresson going?" Adam asked.
"Who knows," Lash said. "Once again, we're left to figure things out ourselves."
"Fine. First, let's see if we can get that suit off," Adam said.
Valdez and one of his marines inspected the body.
"It's weird. It feels like... I don't know... dolphin skin," the marine said.
"Dolphin skin?" Adam asked.
"Yeah. Not slimy, but soft and... rubbery."
"God only knows what it's made of," Valdez said.
"Probably something that doesn't even exist on Earth," Jake said.
Valdez took out his knife and tried cutting the suit. It didn't even leave a mark. "Damn," Valdez moaned.
The Exterminator began to move its arm.
"Oh, shit!" Lash cried.
"Here," Valdez said, grabbing a nearby chair. He and the marine lifted up the Exterminator and dropped it into the chair. They used a metal chain to tie its legs to the chair legs and its arms behind the chair's back.
"You think that'll hold?" Adam asked.
"Let's hope so," Valdez replied.
"Just in case," Lash said, holding up the butt of her shotgun.
"There has to be a way to get this thing off," Kelsey said. "Gresson told us it's a suit, right? It's not its... skin."
"Maybe the 'suit' is a part of their body? Like a shell?" a marine offered.
"If that's the case..." Taylor Black began to say, but he was interrupted as the Exterminator began to convulse in its chair. It stopped seconds later, then began to speak. Its language involved many quick syllables and sporadic pauses. It was all gibberish to those in the warehouse. As the Exterminator continued, however, Adam had a strange feeling that it was familiar.
"Here!" one of the marines yelled. He pointed to a small circle on the back of the suit's neck. Valdez looked at it closely, then prodded it with his finger. Eventually he managed to get his finger inside it as the Exterminator continued to make noise. He pulled and as he did, the hole in the suit expanded. Without warning, the suit snapped, revealing the Exterminator's head.
Everyone gasped and took a step back.
"What... the hell?" Jake said.
The creature sitting in front of them was a human being.
The man tied to the chair began to yell at them in his foreign tongue. He shook himself back and forth, struggling to get free. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and tan skin. Had the others standing around him not been in shock, he may have been considered attractive. Despite the violent beating the man had just taken, he appeared surprisingly intact.
Valdez pulled out a knife and held it to the man's throat. "Who are you?" he demanded to know.
The man simply continued to speak his indecipherable language.
"He must not speak English," Black said.
"Anyone... have any idea... how the hell... these are people?" Jake asked.
"This is what Gresson was keeping from us?" Lash breathlessly asked. "This is what he couldn't tell us?"
"Oh my god," Adam quietly said.
"What?" Lash asked.
"Adam, what do you know?" Valdez asked.
Everyone turned to Adam. The man in the chair continued to shake and yell.
"That language. We've heard it before. The fast reflexes. We've seen them before. The imperviousness to damage. We've all seen that before. The incredible technology. We've seen that before too."
"Where?" Valdez asked. Jake and Lash looked at each other. They were beginning to put the pieces together themselves.
"The language was used as a code at the entrance of New Salvador. It was also used as a call between different groups of Exterminators, something Gresson could understand. On multiple occasions Gresson has fired his gun faster than should be possible and survived plenty of shots himself, including his assassination. And the technology in New Salvador's bunker is far beyond anything any of us have ever seen before... Was it always this obvious?"
"What are you saying?" Valdez asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Gresson. The people at New Salvador. The Exterminators... They're all the same."
Chapter 49
New Jacksonville - December 18, 2072
Everyone in the warehouse looked back at the man they had once been convinced was an alien creature and part of a global invasion. Now with their first glimpse at their enemy, instead of more clarity, they had even less.
The man had finally stopped yelling and was now looking curiously at them.
"Where is the 'president' now?" Kelsey asked.
"He didn't say where he was going," Valdez replied.
"What do we do?" Jake wondered, hoping someone had some kind of guidance.
After a few moments of silence, Adam said, "I think it's time we gave Gresson an ultimatum. Either he tells us everything he knows, or he leaves."
"Leaves? If he knows anything, we should arrest him," Wells said.
"Arrest Gresson? You're kidding," Lash scoffed.
"Why not? Our lives are at risk."
"I'm not saying we should or shouldn't. I'm saying we can't because it's not possible."
"And how can you be so sure? Maybe he is one of these... people. But he's not wearing one of those suits. All we would need is a few marines and..." Black said.
"Not a chance. We've seen him in action," Jake said. "All he needs is one gun and it won't matter what we send after him."
"I'm still not convinced he's our enemy," Valdez said. "So far, all he has done is help us fight the Exterminators so we can shut down that interference signal. Maybe he hasn't told us everything, but..."
"Speaking of not telling us everything..." Adam said, looking over at Jake and Lash. They looked back unsettled. It was about to be an awkward conversation.
"What? What are you not telling me?" Valdez asked.
"It's about the signal. There are a few things you should know," Adam began.
A few minutes later, Adam finished telling everyone about the signal, its location in New Salvador, and the Exterminator ships it was supposedly preventing from destroying the world. Valdez was silent, trying to digest it. He felt betrayed. He knew the president was hiding things from him. But this? This was too much.
"That thing killed millions of people. How could they do this?" Kelsey furiously questioned.
"Wait. That's a good question. How could they?" Lash wondered. "If they are the same as the Exterminators, how did they set off the signal before they arrived? Or build New Salvador? And Gresson was president years before the Arrival."
"I don't think we have the full story," Adam said.
"If we even have any of it," Valdez said. "We need to pay Gresson a visit."
They found Gresson an hour later at his house on Holiday Street. He was sitting in the living room, holding a glass of water. He had been expecting them.
"So what did you learn?" he asked.
"Enough to
know there is a lot you aren't telling us," Adam replied.
"Mr. President, is it true? Is the signal at New Salvador?" Valdez asked, somewhat hoping Gresson would deny it.
"Yes. It is."
"How could you not tell me? I thought that was the point of all this! To stop whoever destroyed our world! But... maybe this isn't your world. Maybe that's why you could excuse crippling the entire human race and setting us back over a century."
"I knew you could not understand. But believe me when I say, I would die for this world."
"If that's true, then tell us the truth," Adam said.
"You believe that telling the truth is a simple thing to do. It is not."
"Enough with the cryptic bullshit!" Adam snapped. "You have a choice. Either tell us what you know or go back to New Salvador. There is no other option."
Anxiety was now clear to see on Gresson's face. He slowly rose from the couch. "This is a mistake. A grave mistake. I beg you, please trust me."
"If you will not tell us what we want to know, then leave," Adam said, pointing toward the door.
Trying a different tactic, Gresson said, "I'm the President of the United..."
"That won't work this time," Adam snarled.
"Adam, if you go down this path, we might all be doomed."
"You chose this path, not me."
"I will not leave. I can't leave."
Adam pulled a handgun out from his belt and pointed it at Gresson's head. "Not too long ago, you came into my home, held a gun to my family's head just like this. I convinced myself that you did it to help us, to save us. But I don't believe that anymore. No, everything you've told us these past three months have been at best half-truths and at worst outright lies. Letting you stay here puts us all at risk and puts my family at risk. I can't accept that. I don't care about your choice anymore, I'm making it for you. Leave. Now!"
Gresson stared at Adam for nearly twenty seconds. No one said a word. Sweat began to bead on Adam's face. He wasn't sure if Gresson would ever move or if he would move so fast that Adam would be dead before he had a chance to pull the trigger. Either way, Adam wasn't going to back down.
With a sigh, Gresson relented. Without saying another word, he took his coat and walked out the front door.
Adam shuddered as he lowered his gun. He cringed as the front door slammed shut after Gresson stepped out.
"It was the right thing to do," Kelsey said.
Valdez groaned and ran outside. No one bothered to follow.
"Mr. President," he said, running up to Gresson. There was no reply. "Part of me is angry about the signal and... everything else, but another part of me knows that we need you. Maybe Adam's right. Maybe I'm a fool falling for a con man, but one thing I know for certain is that there are a whole lot of Exterminators out there and not enough overpasses. You and those like you at New Salvador are our only real hope."
"What would you have me do?" Gresson asked, keeping his pace.
"I don't know. I don't understand why you can't tell us anything, but try to find some way around it. Rethink the things you've taken for granted."
"General, you managed to not only kill, but to capture one of your enemies. Perhaps my people are right. Our involvement isn't necessary."
"We both know that's not true. What happened today was the first step to pissing them off, not mounting a global defense."
"Good luck, General." With that, Gresson walked on, leaving Valdez to stand hopelessly in the rain at the end of Holiday Street.
It was nearly midnight when Gresson crossed over one of the north bridges. He purposely bypassed the fallen overpass of I-95 before he returned to the highway. As he walked northbound in the rain, his mind raced. He was both furious and understanding of Adam and the council's actions. He was also furious and understanding of his people's prohibition on the disclosure of the truth behind the Arrival. There was no clear answer for what he should do. For now he planned to take the advice of those at New Salvador and be patient.
He was near the exit that led to New Salvador when he heard a rumbling in the distance. He first assumed it was thunder, but the sound failed to cease. Curious, Gresson hurdled the highway median barrier and crossed over to the line of trees that lined the west side of I-95. In the moonlight, Gresson scanned for the source of the noise. When he found it, his eyes widened.
Exterminators. Hundreds of them. And from their speed, they looked to be on a warpath.
The one who escaped must have told them what happened, he thought. Their flame-throwers were at the ready and their black and red suits glistened from the rain. From Gresson's perspective, he could estimate that there were close to a thousand, an entire tenth of the crew from one spaceship. He was certain that if that many could be mobilized so quickly, a ship had to be nearby.
Gresson turned around, uncertain of his next move. He jumped as he saw a man looking back at him, standing in the middle of the highway.
"Gresson," the deep-voiced man said with a smile. He had dark hair and blazing blue eyes.
Gresson's expression turned to shock as he recognized the man. He had seen the man before, at Gimbal Systems' headquarters in New York the night of the Arrival. The man who had somehow recognized him from across the lab. The man who had only observed.
"Who... who are you?"
"I do not have a name."
"Why are you here, then?"
"To observe."
"Observe? Observe what?"
"Well, obviously you at the moment."
"I do not understand."
"You couldn't possibly."
Gresson stared at the Observer, utterly confused. He wondered if this was a trick or distraction the Exterminators had conjured, though he knew that was impossible. "How... how did you know who I was, that night at Gimbal?"
"Your disguise was clever, but it would take much more to hide from me. I know all and see all. Or at least, I used to," the Observer cryptically explained.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"It's not important. What is important is your decision right now. What are you going to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like I said, I merely observe. I'm not here to tell you what you should do. But from my observation, if these... 'Exterminators' I suppose we will call them, are allowed to decimate the city of Jacksonville and kill even more people, then you have little reason to be here at all. If you do not act, then what is your purpose?"
Gresson thought for a moment. He brushed the collected rain from his hair and stared at the dark asphalt in front of him. The faces of those he cared for in New Jacksonville flashed in his mind. Then he nodded. He knew what he had to do.
Looking back at the Observer, Gresson asked, "Will we meet again?"
The Observer gave a big smile. "I do not know," he said with sheer pleasure.
Confused, but knowing he had no time to waste, Gresson began to run.
Chapter 50
New Jacksonville - December 19, 2072
Acoustic sirens, shouts, and screams rang through the wet city streets of New Jacksonville minutes after the first sighting of the massive group of Exterminators. They had begun their assault at the fallen overpass, blasting streams of fire in every direction. They slowly progressed south along I-95, obliterating the highway and everything around it as they walked as one massive crowd of black and red. Uncharacteristically, the Exterminators went out of their way to chase down and torch any people who came near. By the time Valdez had gathered what marines and armed civilians he could, the Exterminators had scorched over a mile of earth.
"What do we do, sir?" one of the marines asked their general as they all stared at the distant oncoming wall of flame.
"First, we get as many people as possible south across the river. If the Exterminators get to the bridge, we evacuate New Jacksonville." No one doubted that they would. Valdez turned to the council members who stood nearby, watching their approaching doom in terror. "You all need to go. Now!"
"I'm staying for the fight," Adam said.
"Like hell you are. You're a member of this council and it's your responsibility to keep your people alive. Prepare them for an evacuation of the city."
Adam swallowed his pride and nodded. He and the rest of the council began to head south.
Valdez looked over to Lash, Sean, and Jake who were standing nearby. "Have any of you seen Rebeca?"
"I haven't seen her since we blew up the overpass," Lash said.
"She was around here then?" Valdez said, upset.
"Well, I saw her just before," Lash said. "She was with a few others trading with whoever they could find up north. I told her to get away from the highway and she went west."
"West? Why the hell didn't she go back into town?"
"I'm not sure."
"Damn it," Valdez groaned. God, keep her safe, he prayed.
"Sir, what are your orders?" a nervous marine asked as the wall of fire drew closer.
"We wait for them to get close, then we charge," the general replied.
"We can't do that, sir," another marine countered.
"It's the only thing we can do," Valdez said.
"They'll disintegrate us before we even get near them."
Valdez gritted his teeth and tried to think of a solution. "Sean, any clever ideas?"
"What if we blow the bridges? Give us some time to escape?" Sean suggested.
Valdez shook his head. "There isn't enough time for that. Even if we could, we'd have to blow up at least two bridges to force them to take any kind of lengthy detour." After a moment of staring at the nearing flames, Valdez ordered, "Everyone fall back."
Everyone in the vicinity quickly marched back to the shoreline at the start of the I-95 bridge across St. Johns River. There they waited, still without a plan.
The wall of fire abruptly changed direction and expanded in size. Everyone prepared to run. Screams were heard coming from up ahead.
"Oh my god," Sean cried.
As they watched, a wave of people fleeing the Exterminators came running toward the shore. Near the front was Michael and Marie, running as fast as they could.
Darkness on a Pale Blue Stone Page 25
