The Shadow Above The Flames

by Daniel Swenson

  Henry continued, "Look, I know from my time working here at Union Forest and from other security details in the military, that Perkins is telling the truth about that card of yours. There is no way you could be using it unless someone gave it to you with authorization privileges. I also know there is no way you could have cloned it. There are fail-safes to protect against things like that. Be straight with me, and tell me who this General Carmine is and why he's letting you use his card."

  Henry sat patiently waiting for Lenny's response. The spindly man shifted uncomfortably in his chair. Henry gave Lenny the get on with it look as he sat with his arms crossed.

  "Are you sure you want to know?" Lenny asked as he shifted in his chair again.

  "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't."

  Lenny slowly sat up and scooted to the edge of the chair. He scanned the room before reaching back and removing something from the inside of his belt. Henry watched bewildered as Lenny placed a small watch-like device on the table and tapped it twice. The screens on the monitors all around the room fluctuated for a few moments before returning to normal.

  Lenny settled back in his seat, smiling. "Let them try and eavesdrop on us now. With this little piece of tech, we're free for the moment to have this conversation."

  Lenny leaned forward in his chair, clasping his hands together. "What you're asking me to divulge is something I can get in serious trouble for. But you and I go way back, and you've certainly saved my bacon more times than I can count. So I'm going to be straight with you."

  "I would appreciate that," Henry said.

  Lenny leaned in closer, signaling for Henry to do the same.

  "General Carmine is part of a special military task force that reports to the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense and the Attorney General are concerned with Union Forest's overreach of power both within the military and within congress." Lenny sat back in his chair, dramatically flourishing his arms in the air as he explained. "It seems like Union Forest has gained power and influence within the circles of our government year after year. It seems that no one within the government holds them responsible for the disaster over in Ireland."

  "How is that even possible?" Henry asked.

  Lenny shot forward in his seat. "That's the hundred billion dollar question, isn't it?!"

  "The disaster in Ireland should have sunk Union Forest into Chapter Eleven, burying them under mountains and mountains of red tape and lawsuits. Yet here we are sitting in Perkins very extravagant office on his fine leather furniture while the company places more and more government officials in their pocket."

  Henry rubbed his stubbled chin, digesting everything Lenny had said. He wondered if the last five years could have put the company in bankruptcy. Union Forest had been a rather large company before the disaster, and many of the lawsuits against Union Forest were dismissed or thrown out.

  "So what does any of that have to do with you having that card?" Henry asked.

  "I'm getting to that." Lenny quipped.

  Lenny rambled on and on about the many conspiracy theories regarding Union Forest and the events that happened over in Ireland. Henry rolled his eyes at some of the absurd things Lenny said.

  Henry interjected, "So you work for General Carmine, then?"

  "Work for isn't the exact phrase I'd use," Lenny said.

  Henry gave him a questioning glance.

  "A few years back I hacked into the Department of Defense. I ended up getting cocky and slipped up. I didn't notice at the time, but they had slipped in a trace-route tracker. Thirty minutes after I hacked into the mainframe, a group of armed men busted down my door and confiscated all of my machines."

  "Were you arrested?" Henry asked.

  "No, instead of throwing me into jail, General Carmine offered me an alternative solution. Carmine offered to set me up with all of the fancy equipment you saw back at the Batcave. All I had to do was hack into Union Forest’s mainframes, monitor all activities, and report my findings."

  "Have you reported to Carmine about Rick's beacon?" Henry asked.

  "No, I came to you first. When I heard Rick's voice, I knew I had to tell you. Carmine might send me to jail, but there was no way in hell I wasn't going to let you know that Rick was in trouble."

  Henry smiled. He believed Lenny was telling the truth. A plan formed in his mind. It wasn't going to be easy, but he would get Mr. Perkins to let him take Lenny with him, and in so doing, he would allow Lenny to provide firsthand information to this General Carmine, regarding something Union Forest wanted to keep off the books.

  "How easy is it for you to get a message to this General Carmine?" Henry asked.

  Lenny shrugged. "Give me a computer or a cell that you know isn't being monitored and I can get in touch. Why?"

  Henry scooted across the couch, settling next to Lenny. Lenny tried to slide away, but he was trapped against the arm of the couch.

  "Haven’t you heard of a personal bubble?" Lenny said.

  "Listen up. Before you start complaining or trying to give me excuses, I want you to think about this. Rescuing Rick isn't going to be easy, and it’ll be a lot harder without you. Yes, Perkins probably has a handful of tech guys he could send with me, and is most likely searching for one right now, but I can't trust anyone from Union Forest. I need you!"

  Lenny protested, but Henry glared at him with that hear me out look Lenny knew too well.

  "Just think of it,” Henry continued. “If you come, you’ll be the first person to access the info that’s on that data core, which probably contains details of the morning of the disaster and before. You can make a copy of the data, and if it's as bad as you think it is, then I won't stop you from sending it to General Carmine, especially if it’ll get you out from under Carmine's grasp. Good or bad, the information on that data core may be the only possible way to know the truth of what happened in that Irish village five years ago."

  Lenny looked puzzled. "Why would you do this for me? You don't need to save me. You have Rick to worry about. Rick is family, and I’m just some friend you used to get in scrapes with. You need to think about Rick right now."

  Henry smiled at Lenny.

  "You know me better than that. You stuck your neck out for me when you told me about Rick, and that means a lot to me. I'm not about to leave you high and dry. I’ll think of something or come up with some excuse as to why I need you to come with me on this mission. The hard part will be trying to convince Perkins to allow you to come along. He doesn't trust you, and, honestly, if I were him, I wouldn't want you anywhere near this op. But I’m sure he’ll change his tune when I insist that I won't go without you and convince him that this way I can keep you out of his hair."

  Henry pulled out a few of the tech specs from the data core files he had. He shifted them around trying to make sense of them.

  "When it comes to this type of stuff,” Henry said, “I really don't know what I'm doing. I’ve always been the guy they send in for a standard retrieval and drop off operation. But this time it's different because Rick's life is on the line. Something in my gut says there is more to the story than what Perkins is letting on. So you and I need to find out what's on that data core before I deliver it back into his hands."

  Lenny nodded. "I'm with you. Like I said before, both you and Rick were there for me when my life went upside down and all sorts of crazy. It's time I return the favor."

  Henry smiled. "Thank you! I'm going to need you to play along with me. Do you think you can improvise and follow my lead? By the way, we might want to turn off that toy of yours before someone comes to investigate."

  Lenny nodded, and Henry reached his arm out to tap Lenny's jamming device. The monitors fluctuated as they had before, and when they stopped, Henry spoke again.

  "You know, I don't understand half of the technobabble you keep spouting off. I have no clue what you're talking about when it comes to dismantling the casing of the core or whatever it was you were talking about."

  Lenn
y threw his hands up in the air. "Seriously! How many times do I need to go over this? If you dismantle the casing wrong, you could short circuit the entire system and fry the data core irreparably, damaging all the data saved on the device."

  Henry slammed the report he was holding down on the table. "Are you saying I'm incompetent?"

  "Well, if the shoe fits!" Lenny retorted. "A trained monkey would be a better asset on the ground when it comes to removing this thing than you."

  Henry flashed Lenny a look that told him that he better not oversell this.

  "So I'm dumber than a monkey, am I?" Henry asked.

  "Look where we are. Incarcerated by the very company you've been working for, and now they plan on sending you overseas to pick up some highly sensitive device that you obviously have no clue how to extract. You may be able to retrieve people or objects, but when it comes to computer equipment like this, you're the two-ton gorilla that smashes everything."

  Henry smirked. "It seems this gorilla just found a stool pigeon to do all his dirty work."

  "Wha . . . What?" Lenny did a double take. "What are you talking about? There is no way I'm going with you over to that godforsaken land. I need to stay here because there are still a few important matters I've got to work on, if you understand my meaning." Lenny winked at Henry.

  Henry was shocked at how well Lenny had played his part in their little argument. It was too bad he never got the opportunity to chase after his dream to be an actor.

  Henry turned to reply, but at that moment, the door opened, and to Henry's surprise, in walked Roger Smythe. He had a slight limp and his nose had been recently reset. He smiled to himself because Smythe's nose was not quite as perfect as it had been before, marring Smythe's chiseled face. He also noticed Smythe's fresh shirt and tie, but he still wore the same suit from earlier. It made Henry happy to know he was responsible for Smythe's new appearance and that the bruising around his nose and eyes was from their fight earlier.

  Smythe walked over to the couch and sat in the chair to the left of Lenny. Once he was seated, he looked over at Henry.

  "I have been informed by Mr. Perkins that my earlier findings regarding you and your friend’s involvement in corporate espionage against Union Forest were incorrect and that your employment with Union Forest will not be terminated. Any and all charges against you and Mr. Kowalski have been dropped. I also regret my earlier actions against you downstairs in our holding rooms. Mr. Perkins has requested that I offer you both a full apology."

  Smythe uncomfortably readjusted himself in his chair, wincing every now and then as he moved.

  "And so I’m here to formally apologize to you both for my inappropriate treatment of you and my mishandling of the situation. I hope we can come to terms and you can forgive me for my actions against you."

  Smythe stood as best he could, even though Henry knew he was still in pain from their earlier fight. He smiled and extended his hand to Henry, which Henry reluctantly shook. He then turned towards Lenny and gave a slight nod of his head.

  "Good day, gentlemen. I have an appointment with a doctor in twenty minutes, and I need to be off."

  Smythe turned and slowly limped out the door, closing it behind him. Henry shook his head and chuckled, knowing that Smythe was most likely off to see a plastic surgeon about getting his nose fixed.

  "Man, I bet that guy got one major ass chewing when he woke up from your little love tap," Lenny exclaimed.

  Henry chuckled as he stared at the door. He never expected to hear Roger Smythe offer an apology for anything he did, and yet he'd just witnessed it first hand, and to him and Lenny of all people. Lenny continued to ramble on about how Symthe was the epitome of a Union Forest exec and how they couldn't be trusted.

  Henry was only half listening to Lenny because something about Smythe's apology felt off somehow. It made sense for Mr. Perkins to demand that Smythe offer an apology to them, but Smythe had probable cause to do what he did, so why force him to apologize? Henry couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something wasn't right, something was wrong. He had already agreed to head over to rescue Rick and his team so why force Smythe to apologize?

  Henry turned to Lenny. "Did that seem weird to you?"

  Lenny stopped his rambling. "You mean Smythe?"

  "Yes,” Henry said. “Besides the fact that I bashed his head in with a metal chair, something about his demeanor felt out of place to me. Since day one, Roger Smythe has been a major pain in my ass. I don't know what I ever did to offend him, but for some reason, he has made it his personal goal to get me fired. Unfortunately for him, I never gave him anything to stand on until today. Yet here he is being super nice to me and apologizing for his behavior. I’ve never known that man to apologize for anything."

  Something clicked in Henry's mind. He looked at Lenny and said, "Let me see that report regarding the data core malfunction again."

  Rick peered out from behind the rock. When he did, he could see several scrubby bushes ablaze all around him. He also noticed Jacobson sitting up and shaking the cobwebs from his head. The blast from the propane tank had thrown him several feet through the air before dropping him to the ground. Rick heard McAvoy talking through the comm line to his left; he yelled for Jacobson to pick himself up and get over to their location.

  The air around them was heavy with thick black smoke that rolled out from the remains of the propane tank like a writhing cobra raising its head into the air. The roar of the fire echoed in Rick's ears, making it hard to hear anything else. The hiss and pop of the raging conflagration made it hard for Rick to make out McAvoy’s mumbling.

  The remains of the creature were scattered across the landscape.

  Rick signaled for Jacobson to join them. He watched as the specialist slowly climbed to his feet and stumbled to where Rick and McAvoy were. As they waited for Jacobson, Rick noticed that the cold storage locker lay broken in the field just beyond Jacobson's stumbling form. He did a quick scan of the area for Wells’s body but couldn't see it anywhere. Had it been destroyed in the explosion?

  The sky above began to darken with thick black clouds rolling in from the west. Multicolored bolts of lightning crackled across the sky. The thunder boomed and rattled all around them.

  Lightning struck one of the buildings nearby, showering the area with chunks of rotted wood and dust. All three men looked at each other with deep concern.

  "We need to get out of here!" McAvoy shouted over the thunder and roar of the burning propane tank.

  “Where’s Wells?” Jacobson asked.

  “He didn’t make it.” McAvoy answered.

  Jacobson glanced at Rick and back to McAvoy.

  “But he. . .”

  “I know.”

  “Sir, we have a problem.” Rick said.

  “What more do we have be concerned about now?” McAvoy asked.

  “The cold storage locker apparently blasted out into the field during the explosion, and Wells’s body is missing.”

  “Damn it!” McAvoy said.

  “Jacobson, I need you to find us a way out of here. If I read the reports right, whenever the Beast appears, storms like this form. The storm is the herald to its arrival, and I don't have to remind you that the Beast is a lot bigger and more ominous than that damn sewer creature we just blew up. Morgan, you and I will go search for Wells’s body."

  Jacobson pulled out his tablet and immediately set to work finding a route away from the city as ordered.

  "What do you mean the storm is a herald to the Beast? I thought they told us the thing hadn't been seen here for months." Rick asked as they searched the field.

  McAvvoy turned to regard Rick. "Jacobson and I were privy to reports that you and Wells were not given. These reports detailed specific weather patterns that always happened right before the Beast attacked."

  Rick paled before their eyes. He had dealt with insurgents, terrorists, and some of the worst scum this crazy world had to offer, and none of those compared to w
hat McAvoy hinted at.

  "Are you telling me that thing is here?” Rick asked. “I thought the whole reason we were sent here was because the satellite and thermal images showed that the Beast wasn't anywhere near the island, thus giving us a window to survey and retrieve their data core?"

  "We don't have time to argue this,” McAvoy said. “If those storm clouds are bringing what I think they are, then this mission just become the deadliest mission we've ever been on. The Beast can see, smell, and track us better than anything we've ever faced."

  They found Wells’s body not too far from where the storage locker lay. Rick felt a lump grow in his throat. The grief overwhelmed him; it felt like a bad dream he could not shake off. McAvoy leaned down and touched Wells’s forehead, whispering a prayer. Rick could see a remoteness and inaccessibility of grief on the sergeant’s face, which he would never forget.

  After a few moments, they carefully placed Wells back into the storage locker.

  McAvoy clicked his comm on to speak with Jacobson. "Have you found us a way out yet? I have no clue how long we have before the Beast shows up."

  “Still working on it!” Jacobson exclaimed. “Did you guys find Wells?”

  “We’ve found Wells’s body. He’s back in the storage locker where he’s safe for now.”

  “That’s good news,” Jacobson replied.

  “It is. We’re going to push this locker inside the sewer entrance, then we will head back your way. Hopefully, you’ll have an exit route for us by then.”

  When they returned, another bolt of lightning streaked down from the dark clouds, slamming into an old rusted truck out in the field. The explosion that followed caused all three men to curse and duck for cover as a rusted Cadillac flew over their heads. The car hit the ground and bounced two more times before colliding into the side of the gas station.

  Jacobson cursed again as he realized he had lost his tablet. He searched for it, asking Rick for help. Rick found the tablet resting near a boulder not far from where they stood. Unfortunately, the screen was cracked, but it still functioned.