by M. V. Kallai
“Fine, Quinn, coffee sounds fine,” Ganesh said without looking at him.
As soon as he was alone, Ganesh called Bearden, but there was no answer. Maybe he was with Lee. It was still too risky to call the Tripple Laboratories. He didn’t know Lee’s private number, anyway. He’d have to contact Maeve later. It was important that Ganesh speak to Bearden before Mace Magner or General Pike did. If Bearden had been caught with a message from Lee, Ganesh would also be implicated in conspiring against the government. And since he was the public face of the space travel program, he’d likely be locked up in a room next to Rhys Krell until the general could find a replacement. Then, he’d be killed.
Ganesh was pacing his office as these ‘worst case’ scenarios ran through his head. There was a knock at his office door. He took a deep breath and sat down feeling unprepared for the possible repercussions he could face.
“Come in,” he called, expecting to see Major Magner. But instead, a young, strong looking soldier walked in. He seemed antsy and in a hurry.
“Colonel Ganesh, I have a letter for you,” he said.
“Ok. Give it to me then, Soldier.”
He walked over and laid the letter on his desk.
“It’s rather urgent, sir.”
“Urgent huh? What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
“That’s because I work in the weaponry unit. This is the first time I’ve even been on this floor. I’m Corporal Andreas Vance.”
“Well, Corporal, thank you for delivering this letter.” Ganesh could tell that he was nervous standing there. Perhaps he’d even waited until he saw Quinn leave before he came in.
“You’re dismissed, Corporal,” Ganesh said and watched the young man practically run out. Quinn would come back any minute, so Ganesh quickly tore open the letter, expecting to read the general’s words spelling out his doom. Instead, he found a handwritten note from Charisa, the programmer.
Dear Colonel Ganesh,
First of all, I hope I am not overstepping any boundaries by sending you this letter.
I don’t know if you have yet seen, first hand, the horror of what the weapons have done. I have all but given up hope in rectifying the situation through programming. It seems that the biomachines are pre-dispositional to random violence. I realize that you probably do not want to get involved, since you did not respond to my last letter, but I need your help. The unit needs your help. I fear that my team and the team of soldiers down here are being led into a situation from which there is no return. I have done everything in my power to enhance control over the weapons, but without success, and I need your help. We are all afraid down here, not only of the biomachines, but also of our leaders. I’ve done some research on your military career and I know that you do not condone meaningless violence and loss of life. Please take some time from your space travel project to do some good for this unit.
With respect and gratitude,
Charisa Jean Lind
At the same moment that Ganesh was reading Charisa’s letter, Mace Magner was sitting at his desk and tapping his foot impatiently on the floor, not even thinking about Colonel Ganesh. He was focused on the two men who had just walked through his door, Cooper and Albert, the retrieval team he’d sent to Tripple Laboratories the night before to obtain the virus code.
“Did you get it?” Mace asked right away and then noticed Cooper’s burned face. “What the hell happened to you?”
The two men looked at each other for a second as if confirming that they would stick to the story they’d concocted before seeing Major Magner.
“I was scolded with a pot of coffee,” Cooper answered. “An honest accident, by a waitress last night, after we left Tripple Laboratories.”
“You went out for coffee? With the virus code in your possession?” Mace asked, fuming.
“No. We didn’t get it,” Albert said. “We didn’t even get into the building. The access card you gave us must be old. It didn’t work and the fingerprint casts weren’t enough.”
“Dammit!” Mace yelled. “Speak to no one about this. Leave me now, I need to think.”
An hour later, Mace was in General Pike’s office, wishing he had the virus code to hand over. The break-in he’d arranged had been an attempt to impress Pike enough to reconsider his promotion. Instead, he was trying to make a case for why a forced entry to Tripple Laboratories should be their next plan of action.
“Look, Major, we both know that Tripple Laboratories has the stolen biomer, but we cannot legally enter. That building is protected by amnesty from the highest office,” Pike said.
“With all due respect, sir, screw amnesty! We have to take the building. Lee Tripple has gone far enough. We haven’t even developed the tech to disable these machines, but the Tyrinians somehow have it?”
“And you are absolutely sure that they got it from Lee Tripple’s lab?”
“Where else would they have gotten it?”
“Maybe there is a traitor on our science or weapons team. The Tyrinians could have developed a way to attack the biomer if they found out about what we have built.” Pike sounded remarkably calm for what they’d just seen and done in Maile.
“I don’t believe that, sir, and I don’t think you do either. Why else would Camden Riles choose to stay locked up here instead of admitting he had the stolen biomer, and giving up Colonel Ganesh as his accomplice?”
“I don’t know, Mace, but it really doesn’t matter much anyway.”
“What do you mean it doesn’t matter? Of course it matters; now more than ever.”
The general sat back and sighed and rubbed his exhausted eyes.
“I was on the phone with Director Fitzhugh earlier. We’re out of time. The weaponry unit will be cemented over. The unused biomer will be on the next shuttle off of this rock.”
“You can’t be serious! This is…is…impossible!” Mace started walking around the general’s office. He looked as if he wanted to hit something. “I don’t believe it. What are we going to do about this?”
“Well, believe it. In a month’s time, this unit will be unrecognizable and there is no changing the director’s mind, I’ll tell you that. But we still have a few nights left, so you, Luke and I will have to work harder than ever to transfer as many biomachines as we can to our own little holding facility before Colonel Cline shuts the weaponry unit down for good,” General Pike said. “I have put too much into this project to have it ripped away from me. I am not giving up yet!”
“I’m damn glad to hear that, sir.” Mace said. “I’ll be ready to move the second this place closes up for the night. I’ll go inform Luke, so he’ll be ready too.”
The two saluted each other and Mace turned to leave.
“Oh, Mace, one more thing,” he said, “I need you to choose some capable soldiers to go on the Myris shuttle mission, and pass your recommendations on to Colonel Cline. They should be well practiced at handling the biomer and since you work closely with those men on a daily basis, I’m sure you can put together a successful team.”
“Yes, sir,” Mace answered thinking of one soldier in particular he wouldn’t mind seeing leave the planet for a while.
Mace went straight to the weaponry unit to pay a visit to Charisa. He barged into her office without knocking.
“I wanted to tell you the good news in person, Doll. Corporal Andreas Vance has been chosen for a shuttle mission. It’s scheduled to leave in a month, so he’s being pulled off the floor tomorrow for mission training.”
“What? Is this because of you?”
“He was just chosen. That’s all. But look at it this way; he won’t be able to come between us anymore. You’ll be spending your nights alone again.”
“I’m surprised, Major, that you aren’t more interested in your entire weapons program being a complete failure. I can’t say that I was the least bit upset when Colonel Cline came to me today and told me that I was no longer needed here. But you…you get off on the senseless violence, don’t y
ou?”
“Well now, Charisa, this little ‘standing up to me’ act is just adorable. And just because you won’t be back doesn’t mean that we can’t have a memorable goodbye.” Mace moved closer to her as he spoke.
“Back off, Magner!” she yelled. “You will never have me. In fact, after today, I will never have to look at your disgusting face again.”
Mace was fuming at her lack of respect and grabbed her wrist. He drew his hand back to slap her, but she ducked, revealing a security camera on her desk, recording the entire exchange. He released her arm and she looked up, realizing he’d seen the device. Charisa backed away from Mace.
“See, Major, I’m not afraid of you. And do you know why? Because I am smarter than you. I’ve programmed that video feed to download directly to General Pike’s computer.”
Mace was turning red and through gritted teeth, he said, “You and I are not finished. And you will pay for this, just wait. You have to go home sometime.”
“You’re right, Major, there is one more thing.” Charisa held out a computer memory stick and said, “You’ll need to take this to the ‘other’ programmer. It’s the culmination of the programming for the archives. If our combined work is not completely synchronized before it is shut down, then it can be easily hacked. I’m sure you wouldn’t want anyone in Tyrine to be able to see what we’ve done here.”
“Are you threatening me now?” Mace laughed. “Don’t play games that you don’t know the rules to, little girl. Just because you rigged a camera, doesn’t mean you have any power. I know where you live and I know who you love. Don’t you dare cross me!”
“No games, and no threats,” she answered. “Just finishing my job.”
Mace snatched the memory stick from her and stormed out.
“We’ll meet again soon, Charisa. I promise you that!” he called back over his shoulder.
Charisa collapsed in her chair when he was gone. She couldn’t believe that he didn’t notice her hands or knees shaking the whole time he was there. She had lied about the camera on her desk and the synchronization. Her real motive was to get one final message to Luke before she left. Mace was just too stupid to know any better. The thought of him being intimidated by her, if only for a moment, was extremely gratifying. Charisa grabbed a box and swept all of her and Luke’s personal belongings, including the camera, into it. She had no idea what the future held for her now. If Andreas had to leave her for the shuttle mission, she’d have to move where Mace couldn’t find her. She’d insulted him and his obsession and pride would drive him to hurt her. It was the one thing she could count on.
Half an hour later, Luke was startled when Mace walked through his door. It had been two days and he was sure he’d been forgotten. Mace set some hot food and the small computer device he’d collected from Charisa on his desk. Then Mace told him to be ready for transfers tonight. They were planning to start earlier and work faster. The Major left abruptly, and Luke, being so starved for company, was actually disappointed he didn’t stay for coffee.
Luke was happy to eat a hot meal. Having been supplied with packaged meals and the means to heat them up, he hadn’t gone hungry, but it wasn’t the same as fresh cooking. He jumped on his computer right away to look for a hidden message from Charisa. When he found it, his heart sped up and his palms started to sweat. It said, “Get yourself out by any means necessary. Loyalty is over. Do it tonight. Come to my house.”
That night, Charisa was frantically watching out the window for Luke to arrive and arguing with Andreas at the same time.
“I have to go Charisa. It’s a shuttle mission.”
“But, don’t you think the reason you were chosen by Magner was to get you away from me?”
“What makes you think he got to choose? Can’t it be because I’m a good soldier?”
“Don’t be naïve, Andreas. We could get away from all this. We’ll go far, they’ll never find us.”
“And what, live our lives on the run? Look, I care about you a lot, but please realize that this is a great opportunity for me. You said it yourself; the biomachine program is shut down. This giant military threat is over. Can’t we just forget it and move on with our lives and our careers?”
“The threat isn’t over. We’ll be at war with Tyrine with or without the biomachines, and what about Luke? I bet he knows something, and when he gets here…”
“Stop dreaming, Charisa. He’s not coming. Even if he wanted to, there is no breaking out of that place.”
Tears welled in Charisa’s eyes.
“You don’t know Luke,” she said softly. Andreas sighed and walked to her.
“I don’t want to fight with you anymore. This may be our last night together for a long time. Why don’t we try to enjoy the rest of it?” he said. Charisa nodded and wiped her eyes, then followed him to the porch where they sat looking at the sky for a while.
Andreas was right. Luke was not coming, at least not on this night. He worked silently beside General Pike and Major Magner, transferring biomachines to their secret hiding place faster than they ever had. In their previous transfers, the most they’d ever managed in a night was four, but at the rate they were going, they were likely to move six or seven. Luke, wanting to escape, could see no painless way out of his situation with the General and the Major, but he trusted Charisa and her message was dire. He’d have to kill them both. Best to do it when they were in the mazes of the weaponry unit. He knew his way out of the building from down there.
Luke tried three separate times to muster up the courage to do it that night. After all, he was in control of indestructible and precise weapons. But by morning, he was once again, sitting alone in his room after his captors left, and listening to the sound of his door being locked from the outside.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Repercussions
Bearden Leitner woke up in his hotel room early in the afternoon. He looked at the clock and realized he’d slept for thirteen hours straight. He sat up in the bed and stretched, glad to be awake and away from the series of nightmares he was having. They were all about Dana and Lee. In one, Dana was drowning. In another, she was lying on the floor, dead, with blood all around her, while he was sitting on top of Lee, choking the life out of him. And in another, he was standing in an operating room with a saw in his hand. Dana and Lee were lying on silver tables with their body cavities open and their organs carelessly strung around a dirty floor.
Bearden made his way to the bathroom and took a shower. He kept thinking of the access card he’d given Major Magner and what his action had meant for Lee and Dana. If they were dead, he’d never forgive himself. He’d convinced himself, before he even gave the major the access card, that Lee was too important to be killed and he shouldn’t worry about that. But Dana…she was wanted for murder, and was completely unprotected. Maybe the major had done nothing with the access card. There was a small chance of that. He hated himself for always doing exactly what he was told by authority figures. Look where it got him, jobless, on the run, his life threatened, and he’d hurt the people he cared about. Bearden dried off, dressed, and made up his mind. Today, He would go to Tripple Laboratories and face whatever horror awaited him there.
He walked into the main lab and found it completely empty. No biomer wombs on the tables, no piles of notes, nothing. He felt his stomach clench and thought the worst. Then, he heard Dana’s footsteps coming down the hall from the back.
“Oh Dana. I’m so glad you are all right. I was fired and once I realized what I did to you here, I thought the worst and I couldn’t come and couldn’t contact you.”
“Why couldn’t you come? Was breaking and entering not part of your mission here? What about murder and vandalism?”
“When I thought about what could have happened…I’ve been going out of my mind.”
“Are you really going to come in here pretending like you didn’t know what was going to happen…like it wasn’t your fault entirely?”
“What? I…”
/> “Yeah, I figured out your genius plan, Bearden,” Dana said with sarcasm. “Stealing Camden’s access codes and giving them to those madmen, so they could come and…” Bearden cut her off.
“I didn’t know. I swear to you!” he said.
Dana pushed him hard in the chest with two hands.
“What the hell did you think they were going to do? Bring us candy?! Lee trusted you! I trusted you!”
Tears started welling up in her eyes and her voice lowered.
“I thought…” She dropped her head and right away Bearden put his hand on the side of her face and gently stroked her cheek. He moved his hand under her chin to lift her gaze up to meet his and Dana closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
“I thought…you cared about me.”
Bearden grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a strong embrace.
“Dana, I never meant for this to happen, I had no idea it was going to happen. All I truly care about in all of this is you. You have to believe me.”
“Believe you?” Dana wriggled out of his arms. “Who can believe you ever, Bearden? You’re a goddamn spy…and maybe you always were. Aughh! I’m such a fool; I should have never let you get close to me. This is my fault.” She shook her head and looked away from him.
“I’m just a botanist who got caught in a bad situation. I never wanted to spy for anyone. That’s not who I am…you know that. And, do you know how many times in the last several months I’ve had my life threatened?”
“So, what…that makes risking my life okay? Damn it, Bearden, I was shot! If Lee hadn’t come when he did, I’d be dead.”
“Dana, I’m sorry.”
“Ha! You’re sorry? Sorry that you stole security codes, so that men could come and kill me, or sorry that they didn’t get the job done? And are you the least bit sorry about what you did to Lee?”
