by Vikki Romano
“A friend of mine was part of that project, one of the subjects,” she said finally, and Tom flinched, turning to her slowly as if he were ashamed.
“I’m sorry for your loss, then,” he said, and Sierra shot an incredulous look at him.
“He’s not dead,” she spat, and the look on Tom’s face could have stopped traffic.
“I’m surprised. They were all…” His eyes widened and he covered his mouth, trying to keep himself from saying too much, but he already had.
“They were all what? Killed?”
“No, not killed. Decommissioned--well, the ones who didn’t die in the last war, they were decommissioned.”
“Decommissioned how? How the hell do you decommission a person?”
“Their programs were wiped, removed from their bio-drives. We made sure their hardware was useless once they left service.”
“Well,” she said, blowing out a breath, “his is no longer useless. Someone reinstalled software of some sort and now he’s out there and we don’t know how to stop him.”
“Stop him? If someone reinstalled Omega, there is no stopping him. There is only killing him.”
“I’m not killing my friend. You’re going to help us find out exactly what was installed so we can maybe reverse it, or uninstall it. Can we do that?”
“Sure, if you catch him and bring him to GenMed. They’re the only ones who have a core sweeper.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” she said, and stepped off her stool to pace the room. She had no idea how they would find Calder in the first place. Getting a ping that he was someplace in NE2 didn’t help, and she wasn’t at liberty to call out a search-and-rescue crew. Her boss didn’t even know anything was going on at this point. For all he knew, they were still off duty.
“I have code from the original upload,” Steven said, handing Tom the tablet. “Would you be able to tell me who wrote it or, better yet, sent it?”
Tom took the tablet with some reluctance and looked down at the numbers filling the screen. Sierra watched his eyes move swiftly across the lines as his fingers scrolled through the pages, and then he looked up.
“This isn’t the right code,” he said, handing the tablet back to Steven.
“Yes it is. That’s what her friend uploaded this morning.”
Tom shrugged and grimaced.
“It’s not our code, I’m telling you. Whoever wrote this knew what they were doing and were perhaps aware of the project, but this is not our code. Nothing like it at all.”
Sierra’s heart dropped out of her chest. She held a hand to her mouth as nausea rose in her throat.
“If it’s not yours, then whose is it?” she asked.
“I have no idea. It’s not like we sign our work on top-secret jobs.”
“And there is no underlying code to point us in the right direction? Some address to see where it originated?”
Tom shook his head and scrunched up his mouth.
“No. Nothing like that.”
“Well fuck,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose as the onslaught of an immediate migraine hit her. Now what were they supposed to do? She turned to Steven, and he was looking down at his tablet, his face blank. What was she expecting to see, some revelation in his eyes? Some ah-ha moment when he saw something no one else had?
Yeah, that was exactly what she was expecting, but she wasn’t going to see it.
“What do we do now?”
Steven rubbed his forehead, looking like he was trying to soothe a headache of his own.
“I have no idea. Coop?” he asked, turning to Cooper, who looked just as perplexed.
“I got nothing,” he said, then leaned forward and laid his head down in his crossed arms.
This was a nightmare. Calder was out in the middle of nowhere, and they had no idea if he was still under his own control or if he was slaughtering towns along the way. As comical as that sounded, it was a horrific thought, because there was a small possibility that it was true.
“Give me his coordinates,” she said to Steven as she stood resolutely, crossing her arms.
“They aren’t going to help us,” he said.
“Yes they will. I’m going to go find him.”
CHAPTER TEN
Calder McKenna resented his tedious pain. Especially because he didn’t know what triggered it. What he did know was that the pain triggered the strange changes in his body and mind and sent him to a place where he was not aware or in control of what that body and mind did. That in and of itself made him want to end his own life.
Coming from someone who was a fighter and survivor, that was a tough pill to swallow.
Calder sat up, unfocused, his head throbbing. It took him a moment to realize where he was, but the rickety old bed and the pine wall paneling pretty much tipped him off. He had no idea what time it was or how long he had been lying there, but he did know why.
The patch was still stuck to his thigh, the edges frayed as if he had tried to claw it off in his sleep. He grabbed the edge of it now and yanked, his skin hot where it had been, and tossed it onto the floor.
Jimmy had left him a glass of water and a small prescription bottle. Turning it to read the label, Calder nodded to himself. Synthetic Valium. He’d have to take the whole damn bottle to numb what he felt.
He took the water and tipped it down his throat. The relief was instant and the chill of it ran through his veins quickly, sending a shiver up his spine.
There was a pile of clothing at the foot of the bed. Not his, but at least they were clean. Dark cargo pants and a black tee. Special ops uniform. What was Jimmy trying to do, set him off again? He dressed quickly and looked around the room.
There were no weapons to be seen. That was wise, but he still felt bare without something, anything in his pocket. Standing from the bed, he stretched, cracked himself, popped his neck, and ran a hand through his hair. He could smell food cooking, some kind of meat, and his stomach immediately pulled him in that direction.
Finding the living room in disarray, the couch in pieces on the floor, was a harsh reality for Calder. He noted the scorch marks on the wall. Looked for evidence of blood as he made his way to the kitchen.
Jimmy was at the old stove, frying something in a pan. Calder took a seat at the table and sat back in the chair.
“How do you want your eggs?” Jimmy asked without turning around.
Calder barely heard him. All he could hear was his blood pulsing in his ears. In his mind, he saw Jimmy with a burned hole through his chest, his face charred from a pulse blast. A horrifying mess that he created.
“Calder?” Jimmy turned to look at him.
His face was as it always was. Stubbled and scarred, but still the same Jimmy he had always known.
“You OK?” Jimmy asked, quirking his head.
Calder nodded dazedly.
“Yeah, just tired,” he managed to get out through a clenched throat.
“Tired? Jesus, man, I gave you enough sedative to put you out for a month.”
“How long was I out? A couple of days?” Calder asked. He felt like he had been asleep for a year. His body was stiff and ached all over.
“Nine hours.”
“That’s it?”
“Surprised the hell out of me too. I was hoping to set the place to rights before you came to.”
“Sorry about that. Are you OK?”
“Dandy,” Jimmy said, turning back to the stove. “You fucked up my favorite couch.”
“I’ll get you a new one. Anything you want.”
Jimmy laughed. Calder could see his shoulders shaking.
“I hear there’s a designer showcase in the city that sells some nice ones.”
“Asshole.”
“At least you’re yourself today. That’s a bonus,” Jimmy said over his shoulder.
“I don’t feel like myself. I feel like shit. I feel even worse knowing I did that to your couch
,” Calder groused. “Did I attack you?”
“How do you think the couch got fucked up? I thought I was going to have to shoot you.”
“Next time, just do it,” Calder stated, his voice dry, bitter.
There was a noted moment of silence then.
“Don’t tempt me.”
“I’m being serious.” Calder sprawled his long legs out in front of him. His joints were sore and he felt as if he’d been beaten with a brick.
Jimmy dumped the contents of his pan onto a plate and dropped it on the table in front of Calder loudly, then propped himself on his fists and leaned toward him.
“You’re being an ass. Shut up and eat your breakfast.”
Grudgingly, Calder lifted the fork, fixed the bent tines, then stuck a forkful of egg in his mouth. He made quick work of the sausage then pushed the plate away, empty before Jimmy could even sit down to enjoy his own meal.
“Thanks for the food.”
“At least you’re hungry now,” Jimmy said, and took a bite of toast that he had slathered with runny egg. “There’s more sausage in the pan if you want it.”
Calder stood, set his plate in the sink, then grabbed a piece of sausage out of the pan with his fingers and bit into in. Jimmy ate in silence for a moment, then turned to him with an inquisitive look, draping his arm over the back of his chair.
“Do you know what’s going on--I mean, when you’re in that state?”
Calder swallowed what was in his mouth. It dropped like a sickening lump into his stomach.
“When it first starts, yes. It’s like I can see and feel and hear everything, but I can’t control any of it. It’s like I have two minds, because my real mind is shouting to stop, but the other mind is just this force, this unbending power that I can only stand by and watch. It’s horrifying.”
Jimmy set his fork down and lowered his gaze.
Calder let out a sigh and turned away from him, searching for a glass to get a drink of water, to wash the disgust from his mouth.
“You said that when you were in ops that there were others with this augment. Did they go through the same thing?” Jimmy asked.
“Not that I was aware of, but then, if they were triggered when we were in the midst of battle, I wouldn’t have noticed. Most guys go into some sort of battle frenzy. It’s normal.”
“Well, what I saw in you was not normal, frenzy or otherwise.”
Calder filled the glass again, let it overflow. What had he seen? As horrifying as it was to be inside himself when this thing took over, he couldn’t even imagine what it looked like to other people. He didn’t need to know, but it was necessary.
“Tell me.”
Jimmy took a few more bites of food, then sat back, wiping his mouth with his hand.
“You were, I don’t know, blank. Void. Like this hollow thing. And your eyes were black--that’s what creeped me out. When I called your name the first time, you looked right through me. You didn’t know me.”
“So how did you get me to stop?” He was genuinely curious. It was information he could use to maybe temper himself. Control this thing somehow.
“I yelled at you like a sergeant. I demanded that you stand down.”
That was it. The augment was military. It would make sense that a military command would shut it down.
“That was pretty brilliant.”
“It’s all I could think to do. You had me cornered, and you were about to blow through me with a pulse rifle cranked so high that it would probably burn a hole through me and the wall behind me. I was prepared to stun you. Not sure if that would have done anything, but I wasn’t about to kill you.”
Calder took a breath before looking back to Jimmy.
“I was serious before. If it happens again and you have no other choice, pull the trigger. I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I hurt you.”
“And you think I could?” Jimmy spat. “Man, I know that when you’re in that state, that’s not you. You don’t deserve to die for something someone else did. I’d rather blow off your leg than to kill you.”
“All I’m saying is… do what you have to do.”
“What we have to do is figure you out before it comes to that.”
“Well, that’s the plan, though I’m not sure where to go at this point.” And that was the truth of it. It wasn’t like he could just call someone, ask for help. Who would he call? The only person that came to mind was Cooper, and he’d already tried to kill him. And Sierra. God, Sierra. What she must be thinking right now.
“I’m kind of at a loss too. I’m no big tech buff, so I don’t know the first thing about augments, aside from prosthesis.” Jimmy knocked on his thigh, and Calder nodded, understanding where he was coming from.
He was no tech buff either, but he knew enough to know that he didn’t know enough. And at this point, even if he was well versed with his augment, it wouldn’t help him. It had been changed past the point of recognition. It wasn’t the same device anymore, and not being completely aware of what it was capable of doing scared him.
But not as much as the knock on the door did.
“Expecting company?” Calder asked, his eyes immediately searching the counter for a weapon.
Jimmy stood, then pulled the gun he had hidden in his waistband.
“No, I’m not. Stay here.”
“Sure,” Calder said sardonically, and immediately followed him into the living room. That was when he felt it, that trickle of adrenaline, the slow hardening of his muscles, the dizziness that pre-empted the blackouts and the pain. He put his hand to the wall and stopped himself, breathed calmly. Closed his eyes and tried to head this off before it took him over again. It always happened at the worst time.
Jimmy cocked his weapon and went to the door, flipping a small disc up to look into the peephole. He looked for a moment then stepped back.
“Who is it?” Calder asked, trying to clear his head. It was working, slowly. He could feel his other self stepping back. So it could be controlled, but for how long? He could feel it hovering in the shadows, waiting to pounce.
“Not sure,” Jimmy said, looking into the peephole again. Calder went to the door then and pushed Jimmy aside, taking a look for himself.
He shrugged. Never seen the guy before in his life.
Jimmy motioned for him to take cover, and Calder rushed out of the room and into the hallway. What he wouldn’t give for a rifle right now. He had his back to the wall and focused on the living room, focused on what he heard.
There was a click and he could hear Jimmy swing open the safety door, which allowed him to face the visitor while still having a barrier between them.
“Who the fuck are you?” Jimmy’s voice was tense, angry, and he heard the other man shuffle.
“You need to let me in,” he said. “I need to talk to Calder.”
Who the hell was this guy that he not only knew him, but knew he was there?
“I have no idea who you’re talking about, buddy, but I’ll advise you to step off my porch.”
The door squeaked as Jimmy began to close it.
“I know he’s here. I’ve been tracking him for two days,” the man blurted out, and the door stopped.
“I’ll ask you again: who the fuck are you?”
“I’m the code writer.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Calder came into the room just in time to see Jimmy grab the man at the door and throw him onto the pile of shredded couch. The man rolled and held up his arm to shield himself as Jimmy’s hulking form stomped toward him.
“You have a lot of explaining to do, so I suggest you start talking,” Jimmy growled, pointing his gun at the man’s head.
Calder jumped in and immediately ordered Jimmy to stand down.
Reluctant at first, Jimmy finally withdrew, but stood behind Calder with his gun firmly gripped at his side.
Calder faced the man, hovering over him. There was nothing familiar abou
t him.
“Why me?” was all that came to his mind when he finally spoke, and the man put down his arm and got to his feet, brushing off his clothes.
“You were the only one left.”
“Left?”
“From Omega. After the war, there were only three of you with intact augments. Intact viable augments.”
Calder quirked his head. Who the hell was this guy?
“Viable augments? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Out of the twelve originals, only seven worked upon installation. Yours worked, but didn’t react as they intended it to.”
Calder’s temper was beyond fried at this point, and he paced around the guy like a hungry tiger, ready to rip him to shreds. He needed answers, not an entire story.
“All the guys in my unit had augments. What do you mean only seven worked?”
“All of you had them installed, but as I am sure you realized, some had become more… aggressive than the rest of you. Some became stronger, some more intuitive, some more focused.”
Calder stopped breathing as his mind went back to that time. He had always wondered why he never noticed any changes after the augment was installed when everyone around him had. He was able to use his for data storage and nothing more. His becoming focused was merely his trying to keep up with the others. It had nothing to do with the install, but only he knew that. Showing weakness in a unit like that was a sure ticket out in a body bag.
“So you’re saying that I went through that painful surgery basically to increase my memory capacity and nothing more?”
“Pretty much.”
Calder’s mind reeled, and he needed to walk away for a moment, get a grip on his reality, whatever that was now. He growled and punched his hand through the nearest wall.
“So I’m going to ask one more time,” Jimmy said, stepping in. “Who the fuck are you?”
“My name is Jordan Radcliffe.”
“And how do you know so much about Calder?” Jimmy asked, waving his gun at the man’s face to make his point clearer.
