A Mission Remembered

by Tanner Froreich

  To my surprise, the cavern was lit with artificial light, but it almost seemed identical to sunlight, or at least I thought it did. Mr. Phillips parked the Jeep near the end of the cavern and said, “We are here.”

  He got out and I let myself out. Leading me to a door in the rock wall, Mr. Phillips added, “I am sorry about everything that happened to you. I personally never thought you should’ve been in that situation.”

  He opened the door with a key-card. The door led into another large cavern, nowhere the size of the previous, but still very large. Where the previous cavern had vehicles, this one was filled with all sorts of computers. It also didn’t seem like a cavern. If you didn’t know better, you would’ve thought you were in a high-tech command center, which is kind of what it was. I looked up and around. The pavilion was separated in three distinct levels. I couldn’t see agents on the second or third levels, but I could figure there had to be someone up there. Three IODINE agents came up to us and Mr. Phillips said, “These men will be briefing you on what happened.”

  Before I knew it, I was in a briefing room in a comfortable desk chair, if such a thing truly exists. The men first began by giving me a brief history lesson, and then things like the country we were in, the United States of America, the various states that made it up, current political situations, international news, summaries of other nations, and anything else I needed to understand the world I lived in. It was a lot to take in at once, but I did my best. It saddened me to hear the grave state of the world. However, I appreciated having a better understanding of this new world I found myself in. I was then told a rather grandiose tale of how I came to IODINE, but due to IODINE’s secretive nature, the three men were not informed about my life before IODINE. All that I was given was my file, which was very vague. It said I had grown up in Flagstaff, Arizona with my mother and two older sisters, whose names were not included. Apparently, my father had skipped out on my family when I was only two. I couldn’t believe it; I refused to believe it. My father wasn’t like that. I wasn’t sure why this was so important, but I had to believe that.

  The men continued telling me of the great things I had done for IODINE with my powers, such as catching terrorists and solving crimes. I felt like those things were so pointless compared to what I remembered doing as the Blue Blur. I remember seeing God change people’s hearts and calling them to Himself through me. That was a mission worth remembering.

  I looked to my right, and Mr. Phillips stood outside of the room behind sound-proof glass, a thoughtful look plastered across his face. He knew something these three men weren’t telling me. I could tell that he knew something about my past, my real past. I was going to have to find out what.

  After another hour of pointless flattery with false tales, I was finally released from the briefing room. Mr. Phillips took the lead again. Walking down a hallway, Mr. Phillips said, “You’ll be staying in our on-site apartments. Very nice, but you will be sharing with three other agents. I know it’s a bummer, but I would discourage getting to know your roommates too much because agents are always coming and leaving. No one stays here for more than two or three weeks.”

  I nodded. Mr. Phillips, unlike Mr. Bordeaux, seemed to actually care for other people. I figured I would have better luck getting the truth from him than anyone else, so I asked, “Why is IODINE lying to me?”

  Confused by the question, Mr. Phillips asked, “I beg your pardon?”

  He was probably the worst storyteller in this place because I could see he was already sweating. He was even dabbing the sweat away with his scarf. “I can tell you know something, Mr. Phillips. I want you to tell me who I am, really.”

  He looked around, and seeing the coast was clear, he made a sudden detour from our path. As he led me into an empty office, he sighed. “You're right, you’re not being told everything. This office is one of the very few places here that isn’t bugged at all. I can’t tell you everything, and I know what’s going on isn’t right, but you are going to have to play Jeff’s game for a little while before you can leave without suspicion.”

  I was surprised that Mr. Phillips cracked so quickly. Everyone else seemed so tight-lipped about everything. “Wow, I thought it would be harder than that.”

  “I wasn’t planning on keeping secrets from you for long. I couldn’t do that to a fellow brother.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Jeff told me over the phone to keep an eye on you because he said you would remember you were a Christian. That makes you very dangerous in his eyes. I am also a Christian. I became one a few years ago while I was an agent here. I’ve had to keep it quiet. IODINE sees Christians as overly judgmental to work for them.”

  Mr. Phillips was ranting again. Although it was nice to know he was a brother, I was more eager to learn the truth about my life. “Mr. Phillips, please tell me who I am! What’s my name? Did my father really abandon my mother and siblings?”

  “I don’t know! I just know what they are telling you isn’t the real story. It’s all a farce. I don’t know many details because only Jeff knows everything. Apparently, he feels the circumstances of your identity are so sensitive that he won’t tell anyone, even me!” He looked at his watch. “We’ve been in here too long; we need to get moving or someone will suspect something. I’ll talk to you soon.” He then rushed to the door. “Come on.”

  We left the room and Mr. Philips led me to the apartments as quickly as he could. I didn’t have a problem following at the accelerated rate. In fact, I felt like we were walking too slow. It wasn’t much longer until we arrived in the apartment areas. It would’ve felt homier if there was some real sunlight.

  Mr. Philips led me to room 1028 and I wondered how many rooms there actually were in this seemingly endless facility. He swiped his card on the door and pushed through. “This is where you will be staying, Wallace. Your ID card will give you access to your room and other places you have clearance for.”

  The apartment was rather large, definitely large enough to hold four people comfortably. The door opened directly into the living room with a hallway with five doors to the right. There was no kitchen in the apartment though. The living room was extremely plain, just a couch, TV, computer desk with a computer, and a few armchairs. I walked around and Mr. Philips said, “Well Wallace, this is where we part ways. I have other duties to attend to. Your companions have already been briefed on your condition and will inform you of the daily routines. I’ll be checking in every once in a while. Good-bye.”

  He was gone before I could respond. The apartment was fairly clean. I walked around the living room, seeing what I could learn about my roommates before they showed up. The only thing I could see was a TV remote with faded buttons, but who knows how old the remote was and how many other agents had lived here before me.

  Wandering down the hallway, I was able to look into the other agents’ rooms, but out of respect I didn’t enter. One of the five doors was to the restroom. Near the door of each room was the name of the agent. One room, owned by Rufus Kirk, was in an incredible amount of disorder. Dirty clothes littered the floor as well as food wrappers. The room directly next to it was the exact opposite - it was cleaner than a hospital. The room belonged to an Ethan Welsh, but his name tag had been tampered with, his real name had been crossed out and ‘Mr. Clean’ was written under it.

  I approached the last two rooms in the hallway. There was a mirror that was hanging at the very end of the hallway. I didn’t know what it was, but I didn’t like the feeling it gave; it seemed eerie. I looked to my right, and the name on the wall was Wallace Richardson, so I walked in and looked around. The small room was only furnished with a simple bed, nightstand, and dresser. The closet wasn’t large, just big enough that a man could fit in it. On the bed, there was a pillow, sheet, and blanket, and in the dresser there were several pairs of clothes. They were all the same thing - white shirts and black pants.

  I heard the door open and the sound of three people talking indiscre
etly. I could hear the distinct voices of two men and one woman. Once I heard the tones of the voices, I knew I couldn’t wait until could get out of here.

  Chapter 8

  Waiting

  T he voice of one of the men was rough. I wanted to describe it as cruel, but that didn’t quite fit. He didn’t even seem to have emotion. The other man was just as rough maybe more friendly, but there was something in his voice that I simply didn’t trust. The voice of the woman was soft but sharp and demanding. For a moment, I would have been perfectly content to climb into my closet and hide there until I got a green light to leave and so avoid any interaction with these people.

  When I heard the first man finally express emotion, it was in an explosion of rage. “Rufus! What is this!”

  The other man, who I now knew was Rufus, answered, “Hey! Don’t yell at me! It was probably the new guy we were briefed on!”

  I could almost hear the steam coming out of Ethan’s ears as he stormed into my room. He was tall and muscular. You could see the fire in his eyes as he said, “You little…”

  I knew what he was going to say, so I interrupted, “Mr. Welsh, calm down. I don’t know what you’re so frustrated about!”

  He thrust the name tag with the ‘Mr. Clean’ on it at me and spat, “Don’t interrupt me you rat!” He grabbed me by my shirt and lifted me off my feet. “I’m Ethan Welsh, you don’t forget that! They say you have a memory problem, so here’s something to help you remember.”

  He raised his fist and tried to punch me, but I caught him by the wrist. Using my free hand, I grabbed his other wrist and twisted it off my shirt. He had defensive training because he immediately pulled away and grabbed me by the shoulders. With little effort, he tossed me across the room. I was able to catch myself and return the attack by charging him, without my speed, and shoving him against the wall. I raised my fist to punch him, but a feminine voice shouted from my doorway, “That’s enough men!”

  I really wanted to hit Ethan, but I saw the wisdom in what the women said, and he had stopped fighting back. I backed off and Ethan relaxed. Before I looked at the woman I said, “I apologize, Ethan, I should have been more civil, but I didn’t mark up your name tag.”

  The woman replied, “Well at least someone here is decent. Rufus is a slob, and Ethan here has, as you see, a short temper. I am Britney Spike, Clearance level 7. That makes me the highest ranking official in this room, aside from Welsh, and therefore in charge. Do we understand?”

  She was the rudest person I have ever met or at least the rudest I could remember. I didn’t nod to her question, but I also didn’t answer. She put her hands on her hips and stated smugly, “Good. Come, we need to brief you on IODINE protocol.”

  ∆∆∆

  After an excruciatingly long lecture on IODINE’s way of doing things, and how we must obey what Britney, who would only answer to Ms. Spike, says without question, we dispersed to return to get some rest. The reason these three people were not in their beds when I arrived was that IODINE randomly runs drills in the middle of the night to help their agents stay sharp. Ethan and Ms. Spike went back to bed immediately after the lecture. They wanted to get some sleep before they had to be awake again at 5:30 for breakfast. It was 3:00 A.M., but I wasn’t tired at all. I wished I had a Bible to read, but I didn’t mention it to Rufus who was sitting on the couch simply staring at me as I leaned against the wall.

  I could tell from the stupid smile on his face that he was the one who really marked up Ethan’s name tag. He must have also been able to read my expressions because he said, “I know you know.”

  “Know what?”

  He laughed. “Wallace, my specialty is being an actor. I can be whoever I need to be on an assignment. That means I am very good at lying. Part of being a good liar is knowing when someone else knows you’re lying.”

  “You wrote on Mr. Welsh’s tag. You blamed it on me, why?”

  “To have some fun. I enjoy sending Ol’ Ethan on the newbies. And don’t expect this to be the last time,” he stated rather bluntly. He placed his hands on his knees to help himself to his feet. “Well, good night Wallace, tread carefully.”

  He left me standing there wondering. I didn’t like any of these people. With no one with me in the room, I realized that this was the first time I had had a moment of peace since I could remember. Slowly, I lowered myself to the ground. I felt alone. I didn’t really know who I was or where I was. I didn’t know how big this place I was, and for all I knew I could be miles from the surface, from the sun. At that moment, I realized that I couldn’t remember the sun, only the concept of it. I had this irresistible desire to see the sun and to feel the warmth as it’s light surrounded me. I looked at a clock on the wall, 3:13 A.M. I was beginning to feel tired, but I had to see the sun. I wasn’t sure why, I just needed to.

  I stepped out of the apartment and silently closed the door behind me. I tried to remember the way Mr. Phillips had taken me, but my memory wasn’t working as it should, which I should’ve expected. I wandered the halls for what seemed like hours, but then I recalled that Mr. Bordeaux had said I could run at hypersonic speeds. I was in a long hallway, so I began with a brisk jog and slowly increased my speed as I darted through the corridors of the complex. I couldn’t tell exactly how fast I was moving but I knew I was running faster than any man should be able to and I wasn’t getting tired.

  It was amazing, simply amazing. Feeling the ground pass underneath my feet seemed so natural to me. The air was pushing my hair back like a flag in a hurricane. This was my element, and there were no words to describe exactly how it felt. I was so lost in my self-contemplation that I didn’t see the double doors approaching rapidly and I crashed through them, tumbling to the ground.

  I grabbed my arm as a sharp pain pierced through it. As I sat up and inspected it, I discovered it was definitely broken, but not too badly. I sat there nursing my arm for a bit before getting up. Even in pain, I still had an insatiable desire to see sunlight.

  I noticed that I had re-entered the massive garage. For a high-security facility, the damage to the doors didn’t seem to set off any alarms. I ran around the garage, which was much larger than what I had seen, trying to find the tunnel out. I found that there were several outlets of different sizes. I took one designed for motorcycles and burst back into the night, which had been long spent. I could see the blackish blue sky just begin morphing to color to prepare for the glory of the morning.

  I ran up the mountain until I reached a good vantage point to see the sunrise. As I sat down I ran my good hand through the moist, soft grass and leaned against a tree. My broken arm still felt stiff, but the pain had subsided to a mere ache. I waited for what seemed like an eternity for the sun to rise. I knew that I had most-likely seen hundreds of sunrises but they had all been forgotten. This was my first. I gazed anxiously as I waited to see that greater light that was placed to rule the day.

  While I waited, I desperately desired scripture. I was tempted to run from this place, to run and never return. I could have run to the first town I found and got a Bible, but I didn’t know what this world was like towards Christians. IODINE wasn’t kind to us; what if the world wasn’t as well. I sighed and I thirsted for scripture, but I knew if I was to flee, I would never be able to find my way back. Something deep within me urged me to stay as if there was a purpose to this. Even though Mr. Bordeaux’s reluctance to share my most personal information with me had a sinister stench to it, I was meant to be here.

  I looked out to the horizon and saw a single star just above it, and I was intrigued by how bright it was in comparison to the coming glory of the sun. Every other star had faded, outshined by the dormant sun. I wondered how it was possible, then the information tumbled into my mind. It was a planet, Mercury. I couldn’t remember my family, but in a moment I could remember almost all the names and positions of the planets. I was tempted to let this situation lead me to self-pity, but I refused to give in to despair. I remembered something else that
was a comfort. I remembered the One my life revolved around. Just as Mercury, in all its racing, never strays far from its Sun, I wouldn’t stray from the Son.

  I simply meditated on every verse I could remember about Christ. Which, without anything else to prevent them in my heart and mind, was a lot of verse -. even entire chapters. I chuckled at the thought. God had taken everything else dear in my life so that He could bring me even closer to Himself.

  In an explosion of light, the sun peeked over the horizon. In its majesty, Mercury’s light was completely overwhelmed. I can’t find the words to describe it. It was simply beautiful. The heat warmed my cold body, and I gave a silent prayer to God for His goodness.

  My peace, however, was short-lived. I heard the sound of a rifle cocking and to my side, an IODINE agent, with a squad behind him, held his gun to my head.

  He commanded, “Get on the ground, agent!”

  It seemed uncannily similar to the last time IODINE agents threatened me. At least this time I had a title.

  Chapter 9

  Closed Door

  I was taken back down the mountain by the squad, which turned out to be a 30-minute hike back into the IODINE HQ. Back in the darkness of the mountain, I was reprimanded severely for breaking protocols that I had no idea about. While I was busy being yelled at by some drill sergeant, Mr. Phillips walked into the room, which silenced any further rebuke.

  “What is going on here?” he demanded.

  The ‘drill sergeant’ saluted. “This agent was found on the mountain sir.”

  Mr. Phillips gestured for me to stand up from the chair I was sitting in. “Did you look over his file before you began your ruthless lecture?” The man fumbled over his words but didn’t answer. Mr. Phillips continued, “If you had, you would have known this agent is still rehabilitating from amnesia. Don’t give an excuse, agent, just go back about your business. I’ll deal with this.”