Noble Revelations

by Adeleke Kayode

  “You cracked the encryption. That makes my timing perfect.”

  Something about the way Juliette had said that seemed strange. Even if she had followed us here she would have to be lying in wait for the right time to say hey I’m going to help you bring down Prometheus. There was something I wasn’t seeing here and I wasn’t going to trust her until I figured it out.

  “You planned this didn’t you?” Alex commented.

  “Why, whatever do you mean?” Juliette feigned ignorance.

  It seems Alex was a step ahead of me for now. I could still see where the pieces laid meaning I had a clear view of the big picture.

  “Did you…did you stall us?” I asked.

  Juliette didn’t make eye contact with me choosing instead to focus her attention on William. “As an operative of a foreign government I don’t recall doing anything to stall you. You and your associates simply managed to retrieve highly sensitive information while I was just beginning my paid vacation. I must commend you all.”

  The way Juliette spoke sounded as if she was giving a mission briefing in a sort of superior and uncaring tone. I didn’t like it but that was the least of my worries at the moment.

  “I get it now. I definitely see why you guys think she’s a pain in the ass.” Alastor commented out of nowhere.

  Juliette glance at him if only for a second or two. “Sod off merc.”

  I wanted to laugh but decided against it. I couldn’t be sure but it seemed that Juliette might have been acting on her own or something else was in the works behind the scenes that allowed Juliette to offer us some form of assistance. Either way there was no reason for us to be standing around.

  “Well, are we going to start talking or what?”

  Juliette nodded. “In a moment. We’ll need one of those desks.”

  “I can have someone bring a bigger one if you’d like.” Mr. Bright asked.

  “Please and thank you.”

  Mr. Bright shrugged then walked off. “She seems fine to me.”

  I rolled my eyes at Mr. Bright’s comment. It wasn’t like he was a very direct person either. Actually now that I thought about it Juliette and Mr. Bright might actually get along pretty well considering.

  William took the time to inform us that the Prometheus headquarters was in the pacific ocean located approximately seven hundred miles from the equator give or take a couple of miles. Other than that no one else spoke once Mr. Bright had left the room. So we were waiting until he and some big guys returned with two large desks which were placed in the middle of the room. After that the big guys went on their way without saying a word. Juliette went to the closer of the two tables and placed a small tablet like device on it.

  She waited for us to gather around before pressing the center of the device, once she did, it opened up and expanded across the table. A holographic display showed a large island, which appeared to be uninhabited. From what I could see the plant life had grown a considerable amount making it hard to get a clear visual. After we all saw the island, Juliette focused the image getting us a closer look so that we could see that there was a few ways we could maneuver around.

  “On the far side of the island there’s a beach, just some sand mostly anyway the ocean current is too strong to swim against without being swept up so it is the least guarded. That’s where you guys are going to want to deploy.”

  “So we going in through the beach.” Alastor asked.

  Juliette turned to him for a moment then shook her head. “No. You go through the ocean.”

  For a moment I was planning on responding to Juliette’s comment by telling her we didn’t have time for sarcasm. But I didn’t have to because she wasn’t joking.

  “You just said that the ocean’s current was too strong to swim in.”

  “Yes I did Carter. You’re not swimming the whole way there. You’ll be a few meters out. Enough so, you not only avoid the first few set of ocean defenses but so this one’s ship won’t be detected.”

  Alex snorted out a laugh which got everyone’s attention. “You mean to tell me. That us being a few meters away will somehow magically make us undetectable by whatever sensor system their probably using.”

  Juliette only smiled at Alex which unnerved him a little. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. I have people who will be taking care of that. All you need to worry about is getting from the beach to the center of the island here. Once you’re there you are to signal me and the other teams so we can make our presence known in each of these four points on the island.”

  The four points Juliette pointed to were the Northeast edge, Northwest, Southwest, and Southeast. I had to admit Juliette had put a lot of thought into this. There was no way she was going to convince anyone that this was all spur of the moment though. The only problems I could see were the number of people necessary if there was suppose to be four teams causing trouble at each of those points.

  “So the point is draw attention away from the main compound which is. Probably located somewhere not too far off from where we’ll be.” Alastor pointed out. He sounded sort of impressed by Juliette’s plan he wasn’t the only one. I hate to admit it but up until this point I didn’t quite have an attack plan but now we had one.

  “Not just that but once the four teams have thinned out their numbers. They’ll send out more and start to lockdown the base. You guys will move out and discreetly go in before the base is fully locked down. After that the show’s yours. Oh and before I forget until you reach the center of the island you shouldn’t use your powers Carter they’ll detect the spikes in energy.”

  I looked at Juliette like she was crazy, was that just Prometheus being extremely cautious or…

  “There not expecting us are they?”

  “If they were, this plan wouldn’t have a shot in hell that’s why it’s crucial they don’t know you’re on the island until it’s too late…Don’t do anything stupid when this all goes down.”

  The last comment she made wasn’t really a general statement it seemed to be directed at me in particular. Call it a hunch based on how she was looking at me and the way she spoke she might not admit it but she was concerned. If anything it meant something at least. There was still the Juliette that I lo…it was strange I couldn’t really bring myself to finish that train of thought.

  “So we get in and blow the place sky high.” I stated.

  “Think for a second. If we don’t make sure that the man in charge is there and all their research and whatever is there when the place goes boom then you’re not stopping anything. You want Prometheus gone right, think like a solider for a second. We confirm our target once we do that then burn it all to ground. If we’re lucky Adam will be there when the place goes boom.” A dark grin went across Alastor’s face when he said the word boom.

  As much as I didn’t like Alastor he had a point. There was only two questions now. One was how many people were we going to need? The second was a question I needed to ask Mr. Bright.

  “Hey Bright. You have any more of those black little orbs that you kept in your secret stash?”

  Mr. Bright had a bored expression on his face during the entire time we were running through the attack plan but once I mentioned the little black orbs a grin that was eerily similar to the one that was on Alastor’s face a moment ago appeared on Mr. Bright’s face.

  “Would you like a to go box?” He asked while still smiling wickedly.

  Chapter 33

  The man in charge of Prometheus had called a meeting, he wanted to make sure everything was going as planned. So he had gathered Adam, the woman known as the madam which was a name he never referred to her as, he called her by her given name Virginia Rust. There was Peter Kazhan and Timothy Franklin. Each of these people were in charge of a portion of the enterprise that was Prometheus. Peter, a dark skinned man with slick hair and a five hundred dollar purple suit, was in charge of recruitment often targeting the disenfranchise and weak willed. It was the same pitch the good old Docto
r used to use. Until he decided that his talents were better off with him in charge of not just Prometheus but the world. It would be ironic if the man in charge was to call that megalomania but there was a world of difference between the two men.

  For one the Doctor was a man who had started off with so many advantages he had started off being strong if you would but ended up weak. While the man in charge of Prometheus was strong but had started off weak. He scratched and clawed to create his kingdom and he would rule it.

  Timothy Franklin one of the other men in the room was a meek man with glasses who wasn’t one to talk back to anyone else unless it had to do with science. That was when a change took over him, it was like he was a different person. Which was something the man in charge liked about him. Timothy Franklin was a geneticist that had worked on a number of projects such as the F.E.S.U and his latest project that Adam had started calling CROSS. The name made some sense and was better than his first attempt Frank-son’s monster which was a cheap play on Frankenstein’s monster.

  Then there was the Madam better known as Virginia Rust, she was a cruel woman who was very effective at her job which was aside from breaking new recruits and creating psychological profiles. She was also very adept at weaponized most if not all her research. That being said she was the only one in the room who had currently failed him. Everyone else had done their job while she and the now deceased Warden were to blame for Carter Noble’s escape and the shutdown of the Lockdown facility which in this case wasn’t locked down.

  “So why have you assembled us here, Mr. Miller?” Ms. Rust sharply asked.

  The man in charge, Mr. Miller glanced at her for a moment and sighed. “I don’t like repeating myself so I’ll say this once. DONT…take that tone with me. You of all people should be on your best behavior.”

  Ms. Rust the Madam stepped back stunned she had no idea how to respond to that. Adam who was sitting in a chair in the large conference room started cracking up.

  “Hahaha, see that’s what I like about you Calvin. You don’t tolerate trash.”

  The thought had crossed Mr. Miller’s mind to say something about Adam’s behavior but it would be pointless because he would either ignore him or lash out and he needed Adam tame right now. He knew that Adam’s over eagerness to wreak havoc could be a problem if not properly managed. At the moment he was being kept on a short leash which had him more riled up than usually.

  “So Calvin, why are we here?” Peter asked.

  Again Mr. Miller sighed only this time before he spoke he looked each of his associates in the eye. “Very soon I will have confirmation that one of the threats to our endeavor is dealt with. Soon there will be no more Alexander no more Carter.”

  When Mr. Miller said soon there will be no more Alexander no more Carter. Adam had turned his head away from Miller’s gaze and smiled darkly which unnerved the man in charge. He wasn’t sure what was going on in Adam’s head but he could tell he didn’t like it.

  “We are also here because of Ms. Rust the Madam.”

  All eyes fell on her, Timothy pushed his glasses up and stared without quite making eye contact. Ms. Rust looked around at the others trying to get a foothold of what was going on. A wiry look went across her face before she spoke.

  “Am I suppose to be some sort of scapegoat? It wasn’t I who truly failed it was the Warden his job was to keep the prisoners inside the prison.”

  “Wasn’t it your job to disable their powers? The way I heard it you didn’t quite stop that did you.” Peter mocked.

  Ms. Rust gave Peter a look that seemed to say I will tear your eyes out. Mr. Miller watched them for a moment but not truly watching them, his mind was drifting elsewhere, he needed to hurry this along.

  “No. You are not a scapegoat. But you are in a rather unique position. Being the only one in this room who doesn’t know the true nature of our project.”

  A curious expression went across Ms. Rust’s face. “Prometheus is working toward becoming one of the largest powers in the world. We’ll be rich, have power and luxury. Influence you name it. At least that was the lie you were selling.”

  Mr. Miller shrugged at Ms. Rust’s unrestrained tone only this time there was no warning, instead he started walking toward the door but before he did he waved Mr. Rust along. Reluctantly Ms. Rust followed Mr. Miller into the hall the others followed behind knowing exactly what she was in for as they walk forward. It didn’t take too long for them to reach the most secure room. One retina scan, fingerprint scan and ID swipe later and they were inside the room. The curtain was in the center of the room like always but that wasn’t what he was going to show her. What he was going to show her was in the back.

  “I’ve been in this room before. What is it you want to show me?”

  “You know, I’m not quite sure if she’s really valuable. Anyone else agree?” Adam asked.

  He was attempting to see if he could get the others to weigh in on whether he should kill Ms. Rust or not. He probably wasn’t going to do anything right now but wanted to see if Timothy or Peter were secretly twisted. They didn’t bite which disappointed him a little bit but he was certain that The Madam would outlive her usefulness then there would be no one protecting her. Adam, Peter and Timothy stood a few feet behind Ms. Rust and Mr. Miller who both were standing in front of a slender door. Mr. Miller gesture that Ms. Rust should open the door once she did she would get a better picture of what Prometheus’ goals were. So Ms. Rust opened the door slowly and saw what was inside at first. She was confused then she tried to figure out what she was seeing but to no avail.

  “Whose body is this?”

  “Prometheus won’t be one of the largest powers. It will be the largest, I’m not aiming for simply luxury I’m going to reshape the world. And to answer your question let me tell you a story.”

  Chapter 34

  Tick…tick….tick….tick…it was almost time in a few minutes we would be at the drop site and the biggest battle of our lives would begin. It took a while to get here but it was finally time to take Prometheus down. Whatever they were planning it ended today. We were currently inside the cabin of Alastor’s aircraft. Armed to the teeth for an all-out battle. I assumed Juliette’s team and Mr. Bright’s team were in the same position as us.

  Well not exactly the same, there were a lot more people in those teams then ours it was just Alastor, Carter and me. I wasn’t too worried about the fact that we didn’t have numbers, the others would need it. While the three of us could handle ourselves just fine. Tick…tick…tick. Alastor’s timer was counting down the seconds until the floor opened up and we had to jump. Even after all I have been through I was a little anxious, we couldn’t afford any mistakes. Tick…tick…..tick….tick.

  “You bastards better not pull any punches.” Alastor randomly stated.

  I looked at Carter who was seated beside me and then we both looked at Alastor.

  “We love you too.” Carter and I said in unison.

  “Bite me.” Alastor replied.

  Tick….tick….tick….BRIIIIING BRIIINNNG. The floor started opening up with a loud Waaaaaaaa sound. The cold morning air rushed and started whipping at us making it hard to hear.

  “Try not to get your comms wet.” Alastor joked, I think.

  The three of us crossed our arms over our chests and moved to the end of the floor. Three…two…

  “Now!!!” The three of us yelled in unison.

  Each of us took a step forward dropping into the rushing water. Pu-plash…my body submerged into the water. I held my breath and angled my body just before starting to paddle with my feet. It was early morning so there was no light out yet meaning I had to swim in complete darkness. The current pushed against me so hard it almost felt alive. Juliette wasn’t kidding about the current. Fighting against the current I gradually made my way forward. I’d have to continue on my way for a while before I could finally go to the surface.

  Nothing about this was pleasant, the water was frigid and aggressive as h
ell. Not to mention I couldn’t see more than two feet or so in front of me. I had no idea where Carter and Alastor were even though we all jumped at the same time. I couldn’t worry about that right now I had to focus on paddling hard. It wasn’t too long after I had submerged into the water that I felt something nudge my side. I hoped it wasn’t something that lived in the ocean because that would complicate things a bit. I looked around for a moment while moving forward and saw that Alastor was on my left not too far away.

  Alastor was pointing at something ahead, it took a moment for it to come into view, it was some sort of box like object. A box like object that had twin turrets sticking out of it.

  “Gr…eat.” Bubbles of air rose from my mouth and headed toward the surface.

  So far the box turret wasn’t firing which was a good thing. But there was no telling if it was going to stay inactive. Alastor swam ahead of me and maneuvering passed the box turret without a problem. I followed the same path he took and everything seemed fine until reeeeeeeee bababababaaaarrr. Another nearby turret started firing out shots, I looked back to see what it was shooting at, it was a shark which unfortunately for the shark, it was shredded and it was anything but pretty. Blood filled the water which I figured would only attract more sharks. Sadly if I did anything I would risk endangering my mission so instead I swam forward. My eyes bounced around surveying the water for any more box turrets. Instead I spotted Carter who was pointing upward, I guess we were close enough to the island. A good thing too, I didn’t feel like holding my breath any longer.

  First I angled my body upward then started paddling with both my legs and hands using wide butterfly strokes I made my way to the surface.

  “Haaaaa…ack…ack…huuu…”

  “This way.” Alastor commanded.

  I didn’t even bother getting annoyed by Alastor’s tone, instead I just headed toward the island which was in view. Using quick powerful strokes with my hands and paddling hard with my legs I made my way through the harsh current and to the island. After about five minutes of swimming we reached the shore. The three of us came up slowly, cautiously going to shore once we reached the shore we moved slowly surveying the area in front of us. It was exactly like the image Juliette had showed us right down to the little beach like area which we were currently standing in. The vegetation was worst than I thought. The trees were incredibly tall and the grass was a foot and a half to two feet in the air. It was hard to see too far beyond the trees meaning if we moved quickly and quietly then we could get around any patrols.