Whispers: The Reincarnation Series (Book 2)

by R. E. Rowe

“Not like this,” says Bree. “Not against General.”

  “I thought we were fighting Carmina?”

  “No.” She shakes her head. “I know Carmina. I’m sure the one behind all this is General.”

  “I’m seriously confused.”

  Bree hands me the device and adjusts the controls of the yacht, slowing down as we approach the coastline. “I’m going to anchor about 90 meters away from the shore. We’ll take the jet ski, land at a small sandy beach I saw on the satellite image, and hike in from there.”

  I take back the device, tap the display, and study the satellite image. I see Bree’s beach. “There are three large buildings in the compound, an airport too. Looks like the green dot is a building.”

  “Let me see,” Bree says, leaning over to look at the display, while continuing to steer the yacht. “That’s where we’re going.”

  I find a pair of binoculars and a folding knife, and add them to my backpack. “Shouldn’t we have guns if they have guns?”

  “We have something better. Remember what we practiced.”

  Bree shuts off the yacht and drops anchor. She finds a backpack in a cabinet and fills it with binoculars, a map, tools, and a few different sized knives that she finds.

  “Feels like we’re preparing for war.” I put my backpack over my shoulders.

  “We are.” Bree leads the way out of the cabin onto the upper deck and uses the winch to lower the jet ski into the water. Without hesitation, she gracefully jumps on the watercraft.

  “What are you waiting for? Move your butt and get on the back.”

  Swells move the idling jet ski, causing my head to spin. I look around like a dork. Here goes nothing.

  I manage to jump off the deck and onto the jet ski behind Bree, while nearly falling into the water in the process.

  “That was graceful,” Bree says with a half-hearted grin.

  I reposition myself and hold on. She opens up the throttle and the jet ski accelerates towards the beach.

  As we near the shoreline, she slows down and coasts to the beach. I lean in closer. Her perfume is—

  An elbow smacks my lower rib. She glances over her shoulder. “Would you please focus?”

  “Sorry.”

  “We’ll land there,” Bree says with a forward nod.

  When the jet ski hits the sand, Bree leaps off, landing in stride on the sand. But I’m not so lucky. I face plant, pick myself up, and brush off sand clumps, trying unsuccessfully not to look like a complete idiot. Epic fail. She takes a black baseball cap out of her backpack and puts it on backwards.

  This girl knows what she’s doing.

  “You ready?” she asks.

  “I suppose. Why are we doing this again?” I ask, not expecting an answer.

  Bree starts running. “We’re rescuing an enforcer like us who happens to be your cousin. Now get your shit together and keep up.”

  I struggle, but manage to stay close as we hike. When we reach a small rocky hill overlooking the hangar buildings, I take out the binoculars from my backpack and scan the horizon. The terrain is mostly rocky with rolling hills on the far end of the island.

  Men and women in green military uniforms, holding long rifles cradled in their arms, walk in and out of the hangars. More soldiers slowly walk around the buildings, obviously guarding the place. Each hangar seems big enough to hold four small jets. An airfield extends out from the hangars. A small jet and two helicopters are on the runway.

  “There are three flight hangar buildings and . . . well...”

  “What?”

  “Soldiers are everywhere. About a dozen have the same type of guns we saw in Tripoli. They’re guarding the buildings. A few patrolling on the roof tops.”

  I hand the binoculars to Bree. She scans the compound and lets out a sigh. “Three helicopters and a good-sized Lear are ready to go somewhere.”

  “How are we going to get by all the soldiers?”

  “Hopefully no one has a bracelet.” She hands me back the binoculars. “Let me try moving them. I’ll focus on the rooftop. You take the ones in the front.”

  I focus intensely on the distant soldiers. A path to the building opens up as soldiers move to one side or the other. All but two of the soldiers on the roof sit down and look away. “Some of them must be wearing bracelets.”

  Bree narrows her eyes and gracefully points her hand, then releases a series of energy bursts from her palm. Silent streaks of light hit the chests of each guard at almost the same time. She’s deadly accurate. Two soldiers drop where they stand without a sound.

  “Unbelievable. They didn’t even hesitate.”

  “Let’s move. The ones you cleared out won’t bother us. We’ll be invisible to them.” She points. “That’s the hangar with the green dot on your display. Let’s go.”

  We leave the backpacks on the hilltop so we can move faster and run towards the building. Just like Bree said, no one looks at us as we hustle to the hangar entrance.

  We both take a moment next to the door to catch our breath.

  Bree surprises me with a quick kiss on the cheek. “For luck,” she says, then turns the handle on the building’s small metal door and we run inside the hangar.

  Once we’re inside, we take positions beside the inside wall and let the door close. The hangar is huge with a ceiling towering overhead. The inside is dimly lit with florescent lights and smells like jet fuel, but it’s completely barren except for an office with a single door and windowless metal walls.

  We continue on slowly in a half-crouched stance toward the door, scanning back and forth as we go. Weird. It makes no sense that the entire hangar is empty. Where’d everyone go?

  I notice a light at the bottom of the door and gesture to Bree. She nods and eases open the door.

  Without any warning, she lunges into the room.

  I struggle to stay on her heels.

  She suddenly stops.

  I nearly run over her before I can stop. Oh hell.

  Mack is tied to a chair about twenty-five feet away. The rest of the room is empty except for a chair on either side of Mack. His face is badly beaten, but he’s alive and looking at us through swollen eyes. He makes an upward motion and forces out words in a raspy voice. “Trap, it’s a trap.”

  We both turn around slowly and look up at a second story walkway. A line of ten soldiers in green fatigues point automatic weapons down at us.

  Before I can move, Bree launches a barrage of energy bursts at the soldiers, moving faster than I can see. The blasts throw the soldiers upward as flashes hit them. Others fly backwards into the wall. She does a somersault and a spin, checking to make sure no one above is still standing.

  Two more soldiers appear.

  Badass Bree sends out a burst before any of the remaining soldiers can get a shot off. The soldiers are all unconscious.

  She winks at me. “Come on, let’s get Mack. We were lucky. No one was wearing a bracelet.”

  “Not so lucky, I’m afraid,” a deep voice says from a second side door.

  Bree turns to the door. “Dennis?”

  “Who’s Dennis?” I mumble.

  A short kid with dark brown, clean-shaven skin and curly brown hair, wearing a white suit and a thin black tie, slowly walks over to us with his shoulders back. He reminds me of a high school senior running for class president. His brown eyes have a calm look to them, which is weird considering there are soldiers lying face down all around us.

  Four more guys wearing identical white suits walk in the room, two-by-two, each one pointing an automatic rifle in our direction. From a door on the opposite side a familiar voice yells, “I’ll take your bracelet, thank you.”

  The tattooed guy I met in Malta named Tano jogs toward us. He’s the mole? When he reaches me, instead of grabbing for my bracelet, he sprints toward the group and throws all of his weight into two of the boys with rifles, taking another boy’s gun in a fluid motion. Before Bree or I can react, Tano turns toward the group of white suits with an M2
7 pointed at them.

  Suddenly, white blobs fly through the open door and explode in a burst of flame into Tano’s chest, sending the gun and the tattooed man flying backwards across the room.

  Tano looks dead.

  “Bloody hell. Sixes and sevens.” In walks Mr. Boyfriend himself, Lieutenant Curtis Webb, speaking in a low vibrato. “Don’t think about moving.”

  Bree’s eyes widen. “Curtis? Dennis? What are you guys doing?”

  “That asshole had promise,” Curtis says, nodding toward Tano. “Apologies, Dennis. I thought I’d converted the bloke.”

  “Evidentially not,” replies Dennis.

  I’m totally confused.

  Curtis slowly walks over to Bree. “Cheers, love.” He hugs her, but she doesn’t hug him back. “I’m glad you’re safe.”

  “A shield will have to do until we can dig that gold thing out of her arm,” Dennis says, handing Curtis a sheet of gold paper that looks like foil.

  Curtis wraps her bracelet up as if Bree’s arm is a smoked ham.

  Bree glares at Curtis. “You?” She pushes him away. “You both work for General?”

  Curtis doesn’t answer.

  Dennis laughs. “You don’t have a clue, do you?”

  “I guess we know who the moles are now,” I mumble, my chest pounding.

  “Shut your trap, mate!” Curtis shouts.

  “Please. Come now. We should be more hospitable to our guest, Lieutenant,” says Dennis, chuckling. He peers at me. “Reizo Rush. Mack has told us all about you.” His voice is calm, but there’s an evil edge to it that sends chills down my back.

  I notice two of the four guys in white suits are wearing gold bracelets. One of them grabs me, and another grabs Bree. They shove us into the empty chairs on either side of Mack and quickly tie us up with thick rope around our legs, chest, and arms. When they’re done, I can hardly move.

  “Sorry.” Mack moans, coughing and spitting out blood.

  “You look bad,” I whisper to Mack.

  “Looks worse than it is,” Mack mutters. He forces a swollen grin. “All in a day’s work.”

  Dennis saunters over to me and stands directly in front of my chair. “We finally meet. The last enforcer to be activated,” he says softly. “Too bad you’ll be staying here with one of our nukes.” He pauses and turns to Bree. “So glad you’ll be joining us.”

  “What about Carmina?” Bree shouts. “We’re so close to defeating General. She needs our help.”

  The small-framed teenager sneers. “Exactly why it’s time for us to act. Why should we serve Carmina or General when we can rule the world ourselves?”

  “Who the hell are you?” I shout.

  Everyone ignores me.

  Dennis stares at Bree. “You can’t even tell I’m in one of Franz’s new silica bodies, can you?”

  Bree turns away.

  Dennis shakes his head. “Soon everyone will do what I tell them to do.” His face tightens. He lowers his voice. “You, Rush, will have a front row seat when I capture the world’s attention with the first nuke surprise. Call it a worldwide cleansing. The end of biological humans, a new era of silica forms.”

  He belongs in Willowgate!

  “Why do you fear Carmina?” Bree asks, turning to Curtis who is checking Tano for a pulse.

  “I like this silica body,” Dennis says. “And I’m done following orders. Now I’m going to start giving them.”

  Curtis steps in close to Bree. “Join us, Bree.” He forces an angry smile. “Hackers, enforcers, and followers united. We can have it all. You don’t need listen to Carmina or her vision of living in peace with biologicals. We can go anywhere and do anything without her. No more General rules. No more Carmina rules. No one tells us what to do. We can be free. No more reincarnation. No more hacking. The entire world will be our playground, forever. We’ll come and go as we please.”

  Tears run down Bree’s face. “Screw you.”

  “The lieutenant is right,” says Dennis, speaking louder with each word. “Soon the entire world will know us. The biological humans who survive our nukes will follow us as they did thousands of years ago. If they don't, we’ll send them back beyond the ether too. I will control who is reincarnated. I will rule this world. Carmina is a weak-minded soul who worries only about suffering. General is a control freak bent on enforcing rules. We will be free from them both. One worldwide country ruled by us. Together.”

  Bree shakes her head with a snarl.

  “Please, Bree, give it time. You’ll see,” Curtis says. “It’s the only way.”

  “All I see is evil,” she says. “A bunch of confused souls full of ego-driven interests. Murderers. You’ll carry on the suffering that Carmina dreamed of eliminating. How could you, Curtis? I thought you believed in her vision for the future. What happened to you?” Bree points at Dennis and shouts. “You talk of peace, but all you want is power! You’re worse than General could ever be.”

  “You will never understand,” Dennis says, shaking his head. “How is working for Carmina any different than working for General? How will Carmina’s new rules eliminate suffering? They won’t. Suffering is what biological humans do. It’s what their life experience is about. It’s how souls are forced to learn lessons—General wants them to suffer.”

  “I don't agree,” Bree says. “Carmina will find a way to eliminate suffering. I believe in her vision and you should too.”

  Dennis’s movements are animated and wild. “You're a fool. I will be the one in control. I will decide. Not General or Carmina. The world will soon know the true meaning of suffering.”

  Dennis sucks in a long, deep breath, and speaks more slowly. “Join us, Bree. You’ll see. Franz will print a silica form for you and directly transfer your soul as he did for us. You can rule the world with us. Be our Empress.”

  “Franz is with you too?” Bree asks.

  Curtis frowns. “Well, not actually—”

  “Franz will eventually be with us!” Dennis shouts. “He has no other choice in the matter. Join us, Bree.”

  “No way, murderer,” Bree says. “Never.”

  Dennis’s body stiffens. “Those who try to stop me will be eliminated and never return to this world. Eternal darkness!” he screams. A moment passes as the frenzy drains out of his eyes. “Enough.” He points to Mack and Bree. “You two will be my guests for a while longer.”

  His voice goes deeper and louder. “You both will be our insurance until we send Carmina and her protector, Chien, back beyond the ether forever.”

  Mack and I look at each other.

  “What are they talking about?” I whisper to him.

  “I’m sorry, Reiz. This is what I feared,” Mack says. “I only regret that I—”

  I force a nervous grin and finish his sentence with the words Dad used to say to me when he was alive, “Have but one life to give for my country.”

  “Silence! Time to go!” Dennis shouts.

  One of the men uses a large knife to cut the rope holding Mack and Bree. Two others pull Mack and Bree to their feet, and shove them forward.

  Mack jerks to the side and back fists one of the four men and kicks another man’s knee from the side.

  Dennis’s bulging eyes focus on him.

  Mack freezes and his face goes blank. I notice Mack’s arm is heavily bandaged. They must have removed his bracelet. Someone is obviously using a bracelet to control Mack. Two guys walk Mack and Bree out of the hangar.

  Dennis grins at me as he pulls a tarp off a large container.

  My mouth opens, but no words come out. It’s a medium-sized, golden contraption the size of an extra-large cardboard box, with an electronic digital display and wires sticking out on all sides. The center has a see-through glass container. In the middle of it, I recognize a chunk of red beryl glowing like a sparkling ball. It looks the same as the rock in Mack’s office.

  “Why not just set off an explosion on Malta?” I ask. “Why on this little island?”

  Dennis l
ooks puzzled by my question at first, but then smiles. “You have no idea what you are in for, Rush.” He laughs. “But you will learn in thirty minutes. It’ll be a, um, a rush.” He laughs and presses a series of buttons.

  “Get it?” Curtis asks. He laughs.

  Idiot.

  The large bomb beeps, clicks, and counts down.

  Dennis shakes his head. “I’ve dreamed of this day. The day I begin my reign over Earth.” He walks away. “Come, Curtis. Let’s get Franz. We’ll call Carmina and arrange a meeting before we leave this island.”

  “Oh, this is going to be fun,” Curtis says. “I can’t wait to see Chien’s face when I destroy his lover, Carmina. I hate that guy.” Curtis turns towards me. “Nice knowing you, mate. Ha!”

  Curtis grabs my bracelet, pushes on a large jewel, and yanks it off my arm.

  Waves of pain cause me to grimace. The inside of my head rings like a huge bell, but the agony quickly fades.

  “Thank god he removed the bracelet!” Honesti shouts. “Run!”

  “This is bad,” Bouncer says.

  “Oh no,” Honesti says. “Reizo is in big trouble.”

  “Boom goes the bomb!” Dennis shouts as he walks out of the hangar. “This nuke will be the first of more to come. When I explode the second one and tell the world I am in charge, the people will be forced to follow me or I will destroy them . . . Welcome to the Silica Era.”

  chapter twenty-seven

  I’ve tried to rationalize the failures since the community visit, but the truth is I need to alter my plan and adjust my proposed new rules.

  “Perhaps General’s system is perfect after all,” I whisper to Chien as we take the elevator down to my Greek Island control center. “Maybe our revised rules will work for only silica humans.”

  “Perhaps,” Chien says, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. “But I still think we should experiment to determine the optimal scenario for biologicals. Finding the perfect balance to eliminate suffering naturally is important. What are your plans for Dennis?”

  Chien always has a way of cutting to the core of a problem and changing my focus when I’m obsessing. Nevertheless, I refuse to give up on biological humans. I know in my heart it must be possible to offer biological hosts a better life.