by Wesley Chu
“Mommy?” Cam’s beautiful voice came on the line.
“Hey, buddy,” she sniffed. “How’s it going?”
As usual, Cameron began to blab about his day. Jill stayed quiet and just enjoyed the sound of him as well. His conversation with himself moved from Eva to his first soccer practice to scraping his hands on the slide and then back to Eva. Eventually, he exhausted his vocabulary.
“Mommy,” he said. “I miss you and Daddy.”
“I miss you too, Cam Cam.” She felt her strength ebb away and another tear escape the corner of her eye.
“All my friends have mommies and daddies.”
That broke the dam. Jill buried her head in her hands. “I’m sorry, Cam, we’ll all be together soon.”
“I had a bad dream last night. I went to find you when I couldn’t sleep again.”
“If you ever need to find me, just look up at the stars,” she tried to say. The words came out a blubbery mess. Finally, after several more minutes of trying to say she loved him and hearing him say he loved her back, Jill hung up.
She leaned against a boulder in the ravine and broke down, burying her face in her hands, her entire body shuddering as she sobbed. After what seemed an eternity, long after her tear ducts had dried out, she just sat there looking up.
“I don’t know how much longer I can keep it together.”
This war is for Cameron as well. If we lose, his future will be lost.
Jill palmed her face and wiped away the tears. “I already lost a husband. And I lost two years with my baby. I’ll never get those back.”
I promise you. After this is over, you will reunite with Cameron, even if you need to walk away from the Prophus. I owe you this much. But for now, you need to hold it together just a little bit longer.
Jill closed her eyes and sucked in through her nose. She held it for a few seconds and slowly exhaled. “I don’t want just my son, Baji. I want my husband too. They’re everything to me. Promise me both, and I’ll fight the Genjix until the end of the Earth.”
When this is all over...
Several headlights suddenly appeared in the distance, rumbling down the ravine at high speed. Jill frowned. Were they discovered?
Get inside.
“No time. If it’s the Genjix, they’ll be right on my heels. I can’t open the vault door for them.”
It was suicide, but she scrambled up the ravine and hoisted herself onto a small cliff jutting out of the side. Lying flat against the cool stone, she watched as six cars screeched to a stop. She did a quick head count on the bodies getting out and prepared to run.
“You can come down, Jill,” Marco called up to her.
With a sigh of relief, she peered over the edge and slid down to greet him in a rough embrace. “I was that invisible, huh?” she asked. “Some ninja I turned out to be.”
He squeezed her tightly. “Nah, the ninja detecting bangle gave you away.” He let her go. “Listen, we need to get inside. There are Genjix on our trail. They’ll be here soon.”
Jill gasped. “You led them there? You idiot! Why?”
Marco motioned his men inside and pushed her in as well. “Not us. They intercepted Paula’s recall signal. We came to get you out.” He stopped just as they entered the tunnel and looked outside as several new headlights appeared in the distance. “Too late,” he said grimly. “Get inside. Guess we’ll make a final stand here.”
THIRTY-NINE
THE PORT
The Roman Empire became our philosophical paradox. We became so adept at manipulating humanity that we were able to dominate them by creating the largest empire the world had ever seen. However, in doing so, we also created a stability that directly stifled our Conflict Doctrine.
Therefore, in order to maintain both the empire and the doctrine, the Quasing pushed the empire further and further out. This led to the eventual corruption and rotting of the empire. It was at that time that I decided to venture eastward to Asia and try my hand at unspoiled lands.
Tao
It was a rough couple of hours for Roen and his band of very un-merry men as they were tossed around like dice in a cup in one of the shipping containers marked to be unloaded at the Punai warehouse. Between the cranes, trucks, hooks, and conveyor belts used to move these containers about, they were jostled around constantly and violently until they finally reached their resting place. They presumed it was somewhere on the Punai grounds since the container was virtually pitch black inside.
Otherwise the men passed the time in silence though, the recent news weighing heavily on their minds. Most had been with the Prophus for years if not decades, and all of them believed fervently in the cause. They knew what was at stake if the war was lost, not only for the world but for them personally as well. If the Prophus fell, they were all dead men walking. Roen spent his time worrying and napping. There wasn’t much else to do other than have his imagination run out of control. At midnight, Tao woke him up. He always said having a built in alarm clock qualified as his one super power.
Game time.
Roen checked his watch out of habit and then shined his flashlight around the room. He saw his men’s long faces and decided to give everyone a pep talk. After all, they could all use a morale boost, even though Roen felt like he needed cheering up the most.
You should say something. Be the leader.
“Technically, Faust is. Or Dylan since the Keeper assigned him to run this.”
Dylan is the tactical lead, but he is still a stranger to the men. Faust is still not right in the head. The job falls on you.
Roen stood up and paced the container, watching each man tending to his own little part of the world. Grant had a son who was in Tibet fighting with Stephen. Hutch’s wife worked on the Hill with Jill. Ray’s brother was in Greenland with the Keeper. Being part of the Prophus was more than a job; it was a family affair. And now everything they stood for was on the verge of falling apart. Hell, it was all Roen could do to not bust out of this metal coffin and swim across the ocean to search for Jill.
“Tao, I don’t know what to say.”
Everyone feels defeated. Just be honest.
Roen cleared his throat. “Alright, huddle up. I know the situation sucks, and we’re probably screwed.”
I was hoping for a better opener.
“We have loved ones and friends all over the world who are in danger,” he continued. “We don’t know if anyone is still alive, and all we want to do right now is ditch this mission and go look for them. At least that’s what I want to do. My wife’s out there somewhere in the thick of it. Right now, I could give two shits...” he gestured at the container “...about this shit.”
You are making things worse. Stop talking while you are ahead, or better yet, repeat after me.
“No, Tao, I got this.”
Roen scanned each face. At least he had their attention. Well, most of them. Hutch was still sleeping. Roen raised his voice. “And I’m so frustrated right now that I just want to hit something!” He emphasized his anger by punching the wall. The ringing woke Hutch, who reached for his rifle.
Easy, Tyson. Last thing we need is to be discovered.
“But I’m in the same boat as you,” Roen continued. He pointed at the wall. “We still got a job to do. And at least we know that some of the people responsible for endangering our loved ones are right outside. Our mission is still important. We can still hurt the enemy.”
Roen’s speech was met with silence. And though he didn’t quite expect an enthusiastic huzzah after his speech, he had hoped for some sort of positive reinforcement. Grant looked stone faced, Hutch tired, and Stan resigned to their fate. Only Dylan wore a smile, but then, when didn’t he?
“You know,” Ray said. “I’ve always been told that if the Genjix win, humanity’s doomed. Is that still correct?”
“Even more so than ever,” Dylan said.
“So what does it matter if the Prophus lose the States? I mean, we haven’t lost the planet yet.”
“I don’t know about you boys, but I’m in it for the fame and fortune,” Faust added.
That brought about a round of laughter and seemed to have broken the ice. The men became their normal selves again as they bantered and ribbed each other. Roen sat back down and smiled. These were a bunch of good guys, every single one of them. Wuehler might have been a prick, but he knew how to assemble a team with quality men.
“What does that say about me, Tao?”
That Wuehler does not get it right all the time.
Suddenly, Roen’s watch beeped. The chattered died immediately and the group began to gear up, from armor to ammunition to night vision goggles to rifles. They were a veteran crew and knew when to get serious. Within four minutes, the team was ready to go.
Roen grabbed the door latch and slowly turned it, making the entire container creak as he moved the lever ninety degrees. Then he opened the door a smidgen and looked outside. They were in a massive storage yard. They were two stories above the ground, stacked on top of another container. A cool blast of air flowed through into the stuffy container. The midnight sky was as black as he could have hoped for.
Roen turned to the men behind him. “Alright, do your job, stay safe, and hit them where it hurts.” He grabbed Dylan on the shoulder as he was about to jump out. “Manny’s dependable?”
Dylan nodded. “Yeah, old Imelda will be ready.”
Roen conveyed last-minute instructions and encouragement to each person as each left the container. Within seconds, he was the only one left inside. He peered out the opening and watched as his team headed toward their assigned sections of the Punai grounds. He dove out head first and rolled gently to a kneeling position, rifle aimed forward.
A large barbed fence separated the storage yard from the warehouses, Roen’s assigned section. Intelligence bought from the Bamboo Union indicated half a dozen guards manned the night shift at the warehouses while three manned the refineries. Roen had put himself on the more difficult assignments and had sent the lumbering beasts to the refineries. Tao had objected strenuously.
You are heading tactical. You should not be prowling at all.
“Limited resources, buddy. Gotta make do with what you got. Besides, six guards is a lot for anyone to juggle, let alone these lumbering hulks. There is a grand simplicity to being a shock trooper after all. Just point the way and let the carnage begin.”
If it were that simple, I would have steered you toward that role a long time ago.
“I’m much more sophisticated than that. More a scalpel than a butcher knife in my execution.”
You are as much a surgeon as Leopold a humanitarian.
“Which one is that?”
The one that liked to explore and meet new people in foreign lands, and then kill them.
Roen spent the next few minutes scouting the perimeter of the fence separating the container yard and the warehouses. Once he was ready, he followed the fence north until he came up to a small hill. There, he settled in and studied the pattern of the four floodlights. Within minutes, he had timed all four. Then he watched the guards making their rounds until he was comfortable predicting their routes.
The rest of the team should have arrived at their designations around the complex by now: Jim at the northwest warehouses; Ray, Grant, and Hutch searching the refineries; Dylan at the administration building. Hopefully, with all of them spread out, they could find this catalyst and be out within the hour. Then it depended on Faust and Stan at the docks to direct their exit strategy.
“How we looking, fellas?” he whispered into his mic.
“In place,” Dylan whispered back. Jim echoed the sentiment. Grant grunted his affirmative like he always did.
“Going in now.” Roen stretched, feeling the ligaments in his body pop. The past five years had done wonders and horrors to his body. From losing fifty kilos and training to run an ultra-marathon to being shot half a dozen times and rupturing organs, his body had run the entire gamut. He wondered how much longer he could keep this up.
Already thinking about going out to pasture?
“Only if there’s a hot filly involved. Wait, don’t tell my wife that. But really, guys like me don’t retire. We just do one mission too many.”
Can I tell you how much you sound like Edward right now?
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Roen’s eyes trailed the moving floodlights as they floated across the concrete field between the fence and the first building. He’d have forty seconds to scale the fence, run across the forty-meter clearing, and get behind cover. He took off at a sprint.
Watch the barbed wire on top of the fence.
In three bounds, Roen launched up the four-meter fence, using his feet and hands to effortlessly scamper to the top. Using his upward momentum, he log-rolled onto his back just as he reached the crest of the fence, keeping his chin tucked against his chest and letting the Kevlar take the brunt of the sharp barbed wire. A second later, he landed softly on the ground and flattened into a crouch. Then he was off again, sprinting at full speed while still hunched over.
You are better at running low.
“Can’t believe it took me six months to get this down, not to mention the number of times people snickered while I trained to run like Igor.”
Small price to pay for ninja mastery.
“I’d pay double to disappear in a puff of smoke and glide among tree tops.”
Roen reached the wall of the first building in exactly thirty-three seconds. He checked his watch and then slid toward the first window, peering into the darkness. Once he was satisfied that no one was inside, he moved on to the end of the building and checked around the corner. A patrolling guard had just exited the building and was moving away from Roen’s position.
Once he disappeared around the corner, it would take him nine minutes to make it back around. This should be plenty of time for Roen to get into the building, check it out, and then move on to the next. As long as he stayed just behind the guard’s route, he would be fine. He looked up at the floodlight again.
“Time before it hits that door?”
Forty-six seconds.
“That’s cutting it tight. I’m not good at lock picking.”
That is because you usually lock pick with a gun.
When the floodlight passed, Roen took off, sprinting along the side of the building to the wall. He took out a set of bump keys and picks. One glance at the lock and Roen knew he was destined to fail. It was an industrial-grade keypad lock and that part of his breaking-and-entering game was weak. He fiddled with the lock for exactly thirty-nine seconds before abandoning the door and going back around the corner.
Do you even know what you are doing?
“Yes. Well, no.”
He retreated around the corner with just over two seconds to spare before the high beam swept the building. Roen’s game of cat and mouse with this white light continued for several rounds. Each time it passed the building, he would run back to the door and spend the next thirty-eight seconds trying to work his locksmith magic. Then when he failed, he would flee back to the safety of the corner as the light came back around the building. By his seventh attempt, he was so irritated that he was ready to shoot the lock. Unfortunately, a silencer was not one of the tools his team had deemed necessary to rescue from the original safe house. Roen clenched his fist, knuckles white as he racked his brain for a solution. This delay was proving costly.
Maybe...
“Shut up, Tao. Just shut up. I don’t want to hear it.”
“I’m in the first warehouse,” Jim’s voice cackled over the comm.
“How did you crack the door?” Roen whispered.
“Spotted the guard on patrol. Sniped the code as he went in. How else do you do it with a level-six industrial grade lock?” The way Jim said it so nonchalantly made Roen cringe. He felt his ears burn.
Wel
l, that was an obvious and simple solution.
“Why didn’t you think of it? You’re the smart one.”
You were so eager to try. I did not want to shatter your confidence.
Roen moved off the wall and sprinted across the field to the side of the adjacent building and hid behind a stack of crates. There, with his scope trained on the lock pad, he waited until the security guard came a minute later. Roen watched as the guard punched a few buttons on the key pad, went inside, and then left a minute later.
Did you get that?
“3385. Well, that was easy. You have failed me, brain.”
You have your own brain. You just choose not to use it.
Roen waited sixty seconds until the guard was out of sight, continuing on his rotations, before he moved in. A few seconds later, he was inside the large cavernous building with a massive door on the north end. On the near sides, two cranes built into the walls like giant arms hovered over the crates. A variety of colored metal crates were stacked in the center of the room, reminding Roen of a giant Rubik’s Cube. Roen did a quick run through the building, opening crates and containers, and checking drum barrels. Most of the stuff here was missile parts: guidance systems, seeker heads, fuel pumps. Nothing you couldn’t find in any second-rate army. He checked the window for the guard and headed out to the next warehouse.
It was a short run to the next building. There he found several pallets of neatly categorized boxes filled with assorted electronics, ranging from high-tech research instruments to parts Tao identified as Penetra scanner modules to what looked suspiciously like the proton packs used by the Ghostbusters. Each of these containers was marked for delivery to exotic locations throughout the region, from Myanmar to Siberia to Russia. There were even some marked for delivery to North Korea via Liaoning in China.
“Somalia, huh? Don’t tell me the Genjix have a facility there.”
It is the perfect place to have a research facility.
