by Jason Wilcox
“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be?” Caden grabbed her by the neck and flopped on top of her. Her secret weapon went to work, licking him all over the face. Letting out a laugh, he ruffled her hair and pushed her off the bed. She quickly jumped back on, diving under the ruffled cream-colored covers, putting her cold nose on Caden’s side. “Agghh! Hey! No fair.”
His cell phone blared on his nightstand, breaking the fun of the morning. Mags snuggled in as Caden stared at the phone. Can’t they leave me alone?
After the fourth ring, Caden let out a deep sigh and answered, “What do you need Sally?”
“Now is that any way to answer the phone?”
“Tell me you’re not calling about work, and I’ll answer differently,” Caden responded with a chuckle at his secretary’s obvious good mood.
Sally laughed. “You know I’d never call you while you’re on vacation unless the company tells me to. I’m afraid you’d fire me if I bothered you for any other reason.”
“I wouldn’t fire you. Now, what’s so urgent?” Caden sat up and rubbed his forehead, knowing his vacation was over.
“As usual, I can’t say anything over the phone. You just need to get to the office A.S.A.P. I can, however, tell you that it’s about your last project.”
“Well, it’s going to take me a good couple of hours to get into the office, and I definitely won’t have on my professional attire.”
“You’re the boss. Talk to you soon.” She hung up before Caden could respond. He felt the tension as he tightened his jaw muscles, not wanting to end his vacation.
Caden loved getting away to his cabin in the mountains. He usually brought his girlfriend, Bridget, once every summer. Unfortunately, with Caden having such short notice this time, Bridget had not been able to leave her job and join him.
Following the completion of his last experiment, Caden’s boss, Robert, had ordered a small vacation. Robert’s excitement with the new equipment had been obvious. Caden had appreciated the gesture and took it willingly, since vacations were rare. His role of developing new equipment for SDS, and the frequent missions, led to long hours.
SDS stood for Samuel D. Saints, founder of the company. To the government, the company was known as Top Hand Laboratories, a cutting-edge espionage development company. This equipment helped maintain their cover and wasn’t the main source of SDS’ jobs and revenue. SDS kept secret the actual equipment it was using or testing, as well as their secret espionage operations and agents.
The organization started almost two centuries ago. At the time, Samuel D. Saints helped develop an intelligence organization for the government, but he didn’t like the governmental control so he quit, and formed SDS. The company remained independent and took out any evils that needed to be annihilated around the world, without having to sort through policies and getting permission.
A code, a mission statement so to speak, was developed and instilled at all levels to make sure the organization always stood for freedom and human rights. If the code was broken, which it never had been, the individual would be executed. Caden made sure that his team followed the code with the utmost strictness.
* * *
It was afternoon when Caden arrived at his office. He pulled into his normal parking spot and looked up at the two-story, medium-sized building. Waves and bands of heat could be seen coming off the tan brick that encased the offices.
After turning off the car, he stretched in his seat while closing his eyes for a moment to release his frustration, letting the cool breeze flow through his open windows. Even that was interrupted. A gust of cigarette smoke filled his nostrils as he opened his eyes and stepped out of the car. Mags followed him out before he closed the door.
“Hey Matt,” Caden said without looking around. “How’s it going?”
“I’m pissed off,” Matt said with a furrowed brow. He stood a few inches taller than Caden, both of whom were in good shape. A cigarette hung from his fingers. “If they’re calling you in, then we’re probably heading back to the main office. I thought we were going to get time off after the last project, especially when James and I just had to sit around while you worked on the experiment.” Mags jumped out of the car and ran to Matt, tail wagging. Matt placed his cigarette in his mouth, inhaled and blew smoke out of his nose while patting Mags on the head.
“Don’t snap at me. Put the cigarette out, get James, and meet me in my office.”
Matt took one last puff before disposing of the cigarette and followed Caden into the building.
After a quick elevator ride, Caden strode down a short, well-lit hallway that ended at Sally’s desk. She waved with a cordial smile brightening her face.
“Hi, Sally,” Caden answered her wave. Her green, silk shirt swayed with her movement.
“You’re looking good this morning,” Sally spoke up.
Caden gave her a smirk.
“The briefing Robert sent is in your inbox. He told me to have you call him after you look things over.”
Caden nodded and proceeded to his room.
The fresh smell of leather lightly scented the air in Caden’s office as he entered. His hiking boots squeaked on the freshly waxed black tile, echoing through the large room. Mags’ nails clicked on the floor as she ran over to her doggy bed that sat on a tan rug by Caden’s desk. She circled five times and then flopped down with a grunt.
Without so much as a knock, Matt and James sauntered into the office just as Caden sat down at his desk. James took off a helmet that matched his suit, which was chameleon-like body armor that changed colors and patterns with his surroundings.
“Have you heard any further updates about your Dead Time project?” James asked in his usual calm voice. His suit turned black to match the leather chair.
“Actually, I haven’t. My computer isn’t even on yet to see what’s happening.” Caden hit the power button and sat back. He could tell his team members were going to speak their mind about something. Caden, unlike most team captains, allowed it to an extent as long as they weren’t insubordinate, but his team was different than the others.
Matt sat on the ledge of a large window to the right of Caden’s desk. “Well.” His brow furrowed as if deciding on the precise words. “Robert used your Dead Time equipment without you knowing about it. He furthered your work and even sent some people in. One came back dead and the other lost his mind.”
“One dead and one crazy?” So, that’s it! That’s why my men are on edge! He noticed his computer booted with a message blinking at the bottom left corner. Caden turned from his computer and noticed Matt had an irritated look on his face.
“We leave in two days for the main office,” Matt grumbled. “Robert’s going to send more people in, but this time he’s not doing it behind your back- he wants you to be a part of it. On top of that, the lovely report you’ll be reading will inform you they don’t think we’ll be done with the next steps to this experiment for another six months or so.”
“If we come back,” remarked James.
“Yes, if we make it back.” Matt turned and looked at him.
“Matt, there’s a reason why I picked you for intelligence, but there’s a line to be drawn on where you get your intel from. This is the second time you’ve crossed that line. I’m not sure where or how you get this information, but enough is enough. You do this again, and I’m going to report you to Robert. I can’t keep being lenient when you disobey rules.” Caden shifted his weight, his chair squeaking underneath him. Matt turned his gaze to the floor, and didn’t say another word.
“Now,” Caden began after taking a breath. Sometimes he wondered if he had been too friendly and nice to his men through the years, an issue Robert had gotten on him about in the past. “This issue is not about us not coming back. Of course, we’ll be coming back. We always do.”
“Maybe you.” James’s calm voice filled the room. “But Matt found out that he and I are on the list to try out Dead Time equipment.”
“They want
you to go into stopped time? Well, if that’s true, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“You might change your mind if you watch a video that was sent to me by another agent.” Matt’s eyes were stern but cautious. Caden didn’t fully understand their worry. They normally seemed gung-ho about exciting missions.
“Let me see it then,” Caden responded, gesturing for Matt to get on the computer. Matt paused for a moment looking at Caden. He rubbed his hands together a couple of times.
“Do you still have the video?” Caden’s eyebrows rose.
“Yes.” Matt swallowed as he walked over to the computer. “It’s in my email.” The tapping of the keyboard and clicking of the mouse only lasted a moment before Matt had his email up.
“Wait,” Caden said grabbing Matt’s arm. “Is that email a video of what I think it is?” He pointed to an email titled ‘Orange Experiment 1’.
“It’s a video of the first test of your Dead Time equipment.” Matt sounded worried, his tone flat.
Matt’s shoes squeaked as Caden pushed him out of the way and clicked open the email. He opened the imbedded video clip.
There were a couple of people in white coats, one of them the head scientist, Allen. The director of the agency, Robert, stood along one of the plain, white walls. The room was barren of anything except for some lab equipment and SDS personnel. Caden couldn’t believe video footage of the trial run existed. Robert had strict rules that nothing was allowed to be video recorded for this exact reason.
Caden saw himself walk into the center of the room where an orange sat on a small stool. The orange was wrapped in gold fabric with little green circuits poking out of the top and bottom. Caden stood by a small machine the size of a water fountain. Three small switches were on the top. He clicked one of them, and another machine in the corner, that had two rods sticking out of the top of it, made a quiet humming sound.
The small audience shifted in their chairs; one pointed to the erect hairs on his arm. Caden remembered how thick the air had felt.
“Go ahead, Robert,” Caden called out in the video.
Robert picked up the orange, turned to the watching audience and camera, and tossed it in the air. He quickly moved his hand away as Caden hit the middle switch. A nanosecond later, a purplish electric bolt snapped between the two rods on the machine in the corner, producing a loud crack. The orange disappeared from the air and suddenly appeared on the ground, still encased in the gold fabric. Steam wafted off the fruit.
No one but Caden moved a muscle. The room was dead silent. Caden had felt proud of his experiment. He had demonstrated his ability to send something into stopped time and have it reappear.
Finally, Robert broke the silence with a chuckle. A huge smile grew across his face while he stared at the orange. He walked over and shook Caden’s hand. As their hands met, the video stopped.
Watching the video brought back the same excitement Caden had felt that day. His men hadn’t been in the room, and even though he wanted to be upset with Matt for having the video, he felt an element of pride that his men had the opportunity to see it.
“This video shouldn’t even exist,” Caden began while Matt quickly clicked on the computer. Matt brought up the video that Caden had wanted to see in the first place. “Where in the world did you get…” He was cut off as the other video started.
Steven, Robert’s top advisor, lay on a metal exam table, his arms strapped down. It was a peculiar sight to see. The skin of his face looked abnormally pale, but Caden thought it might be due to the video being black and white. The graininess of the video didn’t help, either.
“Where did you get this?” Caden looked at Matt who was standing next to him.
“From an agent who got it from a scientist.”
“We shouldn’t be watching this then…”
A scream rang out from the video. Steven thrashed on the table. The leathery straps on his wrists broke, and he sat up. He glanced around the small room with his gray colored eyes, peering at the seven people standing around him. Caden noticed the same fabric he developed to send the orange into stopped time was wrapped around Steven.
“Who brought me back?” Steven shouted, his voice hoarse. No one moved at first, they just stood there looking at him with blank expressions. He slammed his hands down, and the table seemed to disintegrate as if some type of strong acid had been dumped on it. Steven stood while the table melted away.
“Answer me!” Steven clenched his fists.
“Sedate him.” Robert’s voice could be heard, but he was nowhere in sight. One of the medical team standing by the equipment that had been monitoring Steven’s vitals moved forward, needle in hand. Steven’s bare feet slapped the tiled floor as he turned and pushed his right hand out. Equipment and the man flew, slamming against the solid concrete wall.
“Steven!” Robert shouted, coming into the video. Steven’s countenance changed, he stood up tall and turned to face Robert.
“Who are you?” Steven muttered. “Are you the one that brought me back?” His fists still clenched.
“Steven, we’re here to help you. I need you to calm down.” Robert held out his strong muscular arm, his hand opened in a gesture of friendship and calmness.
“Steven?” Steven raised an eyebrow, and shifted his head while looking at Robert. He lifted his broad hands and looked at them, and then touched his face. A smile stretched from cheek to cheek. “My name is Azgiel.” He narrowed his eyes for a moment and analyzed Robert. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”
Caden almost missed it, but he noticed Robert move a finger, and a medic that stood a couple of feet behind Steven jumped and injected a fluid into him. The drug immediately took effect. Steven fell to the ground, sedated.
“Wow,” Caden said as he clicked stop on the video.
“Now you see why we have concerns?” Matt asked while moving toward the computer. “He’s the one that came back crazy.”
Caden didn’t understand. Why would Robert send anyone into stopped time without me there? Why was there a secret experiment done after Robert had ordered me to take a vacation, right after the equipment had been shown to be successful? And why in the world would Steven be used as one of the test subjects? He needed to collect himself. These were questions to discuss with Robert, not his men.
Caden looked up at Matt. “I think you need to write me a report on who sent you these clips, and how in the world they got them.”
Matt quickly clicked out of everything. “Since I’m already in trouble, you might be interested in who they’re calling in to test the equipment.” Matt backed away from the computer.
“Who?” Caden noticed Matt had one eyebrow raised. Letting out a sigh, Caden brought his hands down on the armrests of his chair.
“Yeah, you guessed it.” Matt huffed.
“Burton’s team.” Great, that was the last thing I needed to hear! “Okay, orders are orders. Forget the past. Understand?” Caden waited until they both reluctantly nodded. He turned his gaze out the window. His men had a difficult time getting along with the Burton team.
Matt and James left the room. A ding rang out from Caden’s computer, signaling he had received a new email. At first, he figured he would ignore it. He had a lot to get done, and emails weren’t on his priority list. Bridget needed to be informed that he had to head out of town. With the thought of telling her, he turned back to his computer, willing to procrastinate a little.
There were a number of new emails, but the latest one came from an email he didn’t recognize. Normally he would delete them, but this one’s title had SDS on it. Caden clicked on it. The email had one sentence.
SDS has become corrupt.
Caden hit reply and wrote one question back, wanting to know who sent it. After his finger clicked the mouse button to send, a ding rang out again. The mailbox was invalid. Grabbing a pen and paper out of his top drawer, he wrote down the email address. Matt was going to have his work cut out for him. He was going to need to find out who
created the email address.
CHAPTER 3
Tagen dashed through the pitch-black cave, his home. The thick darkness appeared to be alive, crawling across his skin. He moved through the murky air with ease, passing through the moaning sounds that echoed through the hallway. As he rounded a corner of the cavern, a loud scream rang out, but the sound didn’t faze him. These were the sounds of home.
He stopped at a large door that was deep inside the caverns. Without an invitation, Tagen creaked open the door, and inched his way into the room. Snyp appeared as a black silhouette, standing in front of a large stone archway with ancient carvings and figures. The gateway allowed travel to Triaad’s planet as well as many other planets. It illuminated the room with a dim light. A small current of wind sucked into the large archway.
Snyp shifted his weight, and Tagen eyed him attentively. His skin was a rich, dark black that glistened, compared to Tagen’s that was a duller black. He stood taller and broader than Tagen. Even his eyes were a deeper red, all signs of a powerful and healthy dark soul. This was in stark contrast with Tagen, who showed all the signs of a malnourished dark soul. The effects of Snyp’s meager handouts were apparent, keeping the weakened Tagen in Snyp’s control. A state that Tagen knew Snyp was ordered to maintain under Triaad’s direction.
A messenger, a massive beast sent by Triaad, loomed over Snyp. It was a giant rat-like creature covered in brown scales. The messenger looked over at Tagen while Snyp kept his focus on the massive beast, saying something too quiet to hear. Tagen quickly stepped forward ignoring the fact Snyp didn’t invite him, feeling confident in his news.
“Can’t you see I’m busy?” Snyp twitched his head once. His black claws were outstretched, ready to punish the intruder. He turned to face Tagen, his deep red eyes glaring. Such a response shot cold fear through Tagen. “Oh, Tagen, it’s you. What brings your pathetic carcass back so soon?” Snyp asked. He lowered his arms to his human-like, shadowy black body.
