“That's it, as soon as this meeting is over, we're getting some sort of beaming technology on the ship. I am far too valuable to be rolling around on the ground!”
Dr. Connors and Susan looked at one another. They shook their head at Cayde's comment.
“Where the heck are we?” Cayde asked.
“Someone's backyard about a block away from the park,” Susan replied.
“Umm, wouldn't it make more sense to land near the location where we're meeting this guy?”
“No, not when we're trying to hold on to the element of surprise,” Susan said.
Cayde wiped off the dirt on his shirt and shook his head. “Well, I'll forgo the whole element of surprise factor if it means there's less walking involved.”
Susan shook her head. “You of all people have no reason to complain when it comes to transportation!”
Cayde laughed. “Yeah, you've got a point!”
“Who are you?” a smile little voice said from behind them.
Dr. Connors, Susan and Cayde all turned around at the same time to face the voice. “Well hello there, I'm Cayde, who are you?” Cayde stuck out his hand and held it in front of him.
The little girl looked at him cautiously and moved back. “My mommy says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers.”
Cayde rescinded his hand and took a step back away from the little girl. “Your mommy is absolutely correct. We were just leaving now. You take care.”
Cayde turned his back to the little girl and moved with a hastened pace. Dr. Connors and Susan waved goodbye to her and followed behind closely.
The little girl watched the three leave. She had no idea that they were on a mission to save her future and that of thousands, possibly millions more like her.
Chapter 5
A Meeting of Two Heads
“How much further?” Cayde asked.
Dr. Connors looked down at his cell phone and tracked the small blue dot indicating the commander's position. “Right over there.”
Dr. Connors, Susan and Cayde looked forward and saw a large burly man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper.
“Is that him?” Cayde asked.
“Yes, that's him,” Susan replied hesitantly.
“You sound nervous,” Cayde said.
“If you think I'm dangerous, just consider for a second that this is the man that trained me.”
Cayde stood still with his mouth wide open. “Yeah, that's a good point. Maybe we should rethink this plan.”
As the three approached Cayde couldn't help but notice the massive size the man possessed.
“The park is empty. Less chance for any casualties if this meeting doesn't go well,” Dr. Connors said. That didn't bring much comfort to Cayde.
“He isn't alone,” Susan whispered.
Dr. Connors stopped his approach. “What do you mean?”
“The man standing near the other bench. He's one of the commander's men. Commander Sullivan is on to us.”
Dr. Connors casually turned his attention to the other man. He noticed the space Commander Sullivan had, but yet at the same time, the other man was well within striking distance if need be. “This other guy, did you work with him?”
Susan paused. “Yeah, I worked directly under him. He was the first in command under the task force I worked with.”
Dr. Connors and Cayde stopped in their tracks. They both turned to face Susan.
“Yeah that's it, I'm calling it, this mission is officially screwed. We need to turn back around and get out of here before it's too late,” Cayde said.
“The ship is gone, we are going to complete our mission,” Dr. Connors said.
Cayde shook his head uncomfortably. “I don't like this, what purpose would an agent like that have at the park? This is starting to smell like a set up!”
Susan was about to say something in reply but she stopped when she heard Commander Sullivan’s slow rhythmic clap. “Good for you Mr. Brady, I was wondering if there was more to you than just comic relief. I'm glad to see you have some wits about you,” Commander Sullivan said.
Dr. Connors and the two Ascendants took up a defensive position.
“Oh please, I saw you three coming miles away... Literally. Obviously you guys went through a lot of trouble to get to me, so I'm curious to hear what's on your mind. Come, join me.”
Susan and Cayde followed close behind Dr. Connors. They stood guard while he took a seat on the same bench as Commander Sullivan.
“Dr. Connors. A doctor of medicine and psychology. One of the biggest philanthropist in the lovely state of Washington and also one of the richest in town. Quite the resume, did I miss anything?”
“Yes, I'm also the leader of the Ascendants.”
Commander Sullivan removed his sunglasses and gave Dr. Connors an amused stare. Susan shifted on the balls of her feet while across from her Special Agent Julian Gunn did the same.
“Now we're getting somewhere. You call yourselves the Ascendants. Interesting choice for a name.”
“We are here to make sure that the lives of the Post Human population are protected.”
Commander Sullivan studied Dr. Connors carefully. He found the man to be quite intriguing and saw an opportunity to play a game of chess.
“Protect them how? What exactly are your intentions? Do you plan on protecting those that break the law as well?”
“Absolutely not.”
Commander Sullivan turned his head and motioned for Special Agent Julian Gunn. Julian nodded and approached his commanding officer. He handed Commander Sullivan a tablet, and locked eyes momentarily with Susan before taking a step back.
“I was very curious to see how you answered my question about protecting the Post Humans that break the law. I can see that you have two different operatives with you this time, but I believe these individuals here on this video are part of your group as well.” Commander Sullivan handed Dr. Connors the tablet and pressed play. The video of Mia and James interference with Commander Sullivan's task force played. “So I'm curious, how do you explain this?”
Dr. Connors turned off the video and handed the tablet back to the commander. “The individual responsible for the attack was named Cooper Barrett. We do not condone his actions at all.”
“And yet when my men tried to detain him, your group just happened to be there to extract him.”
Dr. Connors smiled slightly to keep his composure. He knew the commander was trying to play mind games, and he knew exactly how to handle him.
“Regardless if you like the Post Human race or not. The fact remains that they have rights. Rights that we, the Ascendants, will not let be violated.”
“Violated? What rights of Mr. Barrett's were violated? It was a pretty standard mission until that girl of yours came along and made my agent's weapons float in the air.”
Commander Sullivan looked over to Julian to see if indeed any of his men had violated Cooper's rights.
“In the past month, seven Post Humans have turned up dead. Six of the seven were murdered and the death of the other one was ruled a suicide, but I have my doubts about that as well.”
Commander Sullivan swiped left to unlock his tablet and flipped through files. He typed in his passcode to access the files and handed the tablet over to Dr. Connors. “Are these the individuals you speak of?”
Dr. Connors took a glance at the files and nodded in confirmation. “Now, I don't know much about any of these individuals on this file, but they were people, and they deserved better than to be murdered simply because they were different. Heck, even if they committed a crime, they still deserved a trial. They didn't deserve to have their life taken away, regardless of how much of a risk you believe them to be.”
“Oh I agree, the presence of Post Humans is indeed a major threat to national security, but the individuals on these files did not die at the hands of myself or any of my agents. We assumed you were responsible for their deaths.”
Dr. Connors kept his cool but his head spun with mu
ltiple theories on if the Commander was deflecting blame or was actually sincere. “Why would we kill our own?”
“Ever been to Chicago? They kill each other every day like it's some kind of sport or video game. I don't know why, perhaps they wanted to expose you and you decided to shut them up permanently. Perhaps they were weak and didn't fit your vision of what Ascendants should be. I don't know, all I know is that there are a bunch of dead bodies, and the only organization I can think of responsible for this is you.”
Silence filled the air. Dr. Connors wanted to let the commander's words sink in. He wanted to take a second to frame his next words carefully. These sort of meetings were all about being able to make your case.
“Commander Sullivan, we recently had the opportunity to interrogate Cooper Barrett, and we found out some interesting things.”
Commander Sullivan shook his head in annoyance. “See that right there is a problem to me. What gives you the right to interrogate anyone? You aren't law enforcement. You took a man that we had every right to capture and you denied us the opportunity to get information from him.”
Commander Sullivan looked around the park. “Where is he by the way? He's a criminal, and he has to pay for his crimes. The judicial system will handle him, not you guys.”
Dr. Connors looked towards Susan. He knew he was in a tough spot and things were only going to get tougher.
“Well, where is he?”
“He's dead,” Dr. Connors replied confidently.
Cayde shook his head. “Yeah, that doesn't make us look very good.”
“Shut it Cayde,” Susan hissed. Cayde quickly obliged.
Commander Sullivan raised an eyebrow and gave Dr. Connors a hard look. “He's dead? So just hours after you interfere in our operation, the man we needed intel from ends up dead? That's pretty convenient, wouldn't you say?”
“Not convenient at all actually. We had more questions for him.”
Commander Sullivan stood up. His movement immediately prompted Susan to shift her stance, which in turn caused Julian Gunn to do the same.
Cayde stood around nervously. He had this funny feeling that things weren't going to end well for them and he was ready to get his group out of harm's way.
“So how did Mr. Barrett die?” Commander Sullivan asked.
Dr. Connors hesitated slightly. He wasn't quite sure how to explain what happened.
“He had perhaps an aneurism or something like that. One moment he was talking and then the next he was on the ground in pain,” Cayde said.
Commander Sullivan did not acknowledge Cayde at all. He kept his eyes locked on Dr. Connors and waited for the doctor's reply.
“Mr. Brady over there is correct, although his words could've been articulated a bit better. Mr. Barrett was about to reveal crucial information to us when suddenly he experienced an excruciatingly painful sensation which caused trauma to the brain. He died instantly.”
“What sort of crucial information was he about to reveal?”
“The leader of a massive criminal organization known as the Syndicate.”
Julian Gunn's ears perked up when he heard the name. He moved swiftly and stood next to his commander. Susan followed suite and moved next to Dr. Connors.
“Oh man, it’s about to go down!” Cayde said. Cayde stood on the left side of Dr. Connors, and did his best to hide the concern on his face, but both of the agents could easily see passed it.
“Cooper Barrett mentioned the Syndicate to you?” Agent Gunn asked.
Susan seemed surprised by Julian's demeanor. She knew him well enough to know if he was asking questions, there was something important on his mind. “Yes, Cooper stated that he was indeed a member of the Syndicate. We pulled up surveillance of Mr. Barrett and found multiple images of him with a guy named Dorian Granier. We believe Dorian Granier to be a top player within the Syndicate’s organization.”
Commander Sullivan and Agent Gunn had a concern look on their face. They took several steps away from the Ascendants and conversed with one another.
“I have a bad feeling about this. I think maybe we should leave before things get any tenser,” Cayde said.
“We're fine,” Dr. Connors said.
“I agree, the words Syndicate and Dorian Granier caused a pretty strong reaction from them.” Susan studied her former colleagues carefully. She didn't know exactly what they were thinking, but she knew they were concerned. Which at the very least meant they believed some of what Dr. Connors had to say.
After a lengthy conversation, Commander Sullivan and Special Agent Gunn made their way back towards Dr. Connors and company. The Ascendants were on edge as they watched the muscle defined men move towards them.
“We're going to need to bring you three in for further questioning,” Commander Sullivan said.
Cayde gritted his teeth. “I told you, I knew these guys were going to pull some crap like this. I'm not going, there's no way I'm going anywhere with you guys!”
Commander Sullivan cocked his head slightly. “Mr. Brady, don't make a scene. So far this meeting has been far more cordial than I anticipated. Don't ruin it now.”
“Then don't come near me.”
“Cayde, calm down, we're all okay here,” Dr. Connors said.
Special Agent Gunn stepped forward and moved towards Cayde. Cayde took a step back and warned the agent not to move any closer, but the agent completely disregarded Cayde's warning.
Susan moved to her left and occupied the space between Special Agent Gunn and Cayde. “That's far enough Julian.”
“Former agent Susan Lee, it's been a while.”
“Not long enough,” Susan replied.
“It was nothing personal, I was simply following orders.”
Susan glared at Julian. “Following orders? We were partners, and you betrayed me.”
“I didn't betray you, I followed my orders. I was told to bring you in and that's exactly what I did.”
Susan smirked. “You mean that's exactly what you tried to do, because as you can see, clearly you didn't bring me in back then and you aren't going to do it now either.”
Cayde swallowed spit. The moment he feared seemed to be inching dangerously close to becoming a reality.
“Susan you know good and well I felt sorry for you. I held back that day and you know it. But that sympathy I had for you, whatever sense of loyalty I felt for you and the situation you were in is over. You're coming back with us. Now you can make things easy or you can be difficult about it. The choice is yours.”
Julian clenched his fists and prepared himself. He knew the sort of character Susan possessed and knew that the easy way just wasn't in her DNA.
“Susan, remember what we came here for,” Dr. Connors said.
“I do, but more importantly, I remember what our purpose is.”
Without hesitation, Susan jumped off the ground, brought both her legs to her abdomen and leveled Julian with a front donkey kick to his chest. Most men would've fell flat on their backs, but not Julian. While falling, Julian quickly contorted his body and did a side somersault flip to regain his balance. In a fluid motion, Julian turned back around and took up a defensive position just as Susan followed up with another attack.
“Shame, we almost made it without incident,” Commander Sullivan said to Dr. Connors.
“We still can Commander, call your agent off.”
“Too late for that, besides, those two need to hash out their differences.” Commander Sullivan turned his back on the doctor and began to walk away.
Susan aggressively swung with a closed fist right-hand punch aimed for Julian's face. This time Julian was ready. He brought his hands up in an X motion and blocked the attack.
He countered, grabbed Susan's arm, swiftly twirled behind her and locked his hands around her waist. He attempted to use a belly to back wrestling move on her, but Susan broke free of the hold and nailed Julian with an elbow to the face.
“I'm better than you,” Susan said.
“You'
re good Susan, you're really good, but you aren't better than me.”
Julian ran hard directly at Susan. He started to move to his left, but in mid stride he pivoted and changed directions. Julian left the ground, twirled his body in the air and kicked Susan in the side of the face.
Susan fell to the ground but quickly recovered. She got back to her feet and anxiously waited for Julian to make another move. Julian started forward, but had to change course when he saw Cayde approach from the corner of his eye. Julian swung, but Cayde moved faster than Julian could see. In the blink of an eye Cayde went from Julian's left side to his right side. He hit Julian with a flurry of punches with seemed to have minimal impact at best.
“A speedster, so that's your contribution to the team. Okay, good to know,” Julian said.
Cayde went for another attack, but Julian caught Cayde's left arm before he could connect. Julian nailed Cayde with an elbow to the abdomen and followed up with a closed fist to the face.
Cayde stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. He slowly made his way back to his feet and hesitantly took up a defensive position.
“Cayde, I've got it. Get Dr. Connors out of here!”
Cayde looked at Susan with defiance.
“Now Cayde!”
Begrudgingly, Cayde left the fight and ran over to check on Dr. Connors.
“You always were a good partner. He doesn't even realize that you just saved his life,” Julian said.
“Perhaps I just saved yours.”
Julian laughed. “Oh please, he might be fast, but he's no match for me. You know as well as I do that punk isn't even in the same league as me.”
Susan knew what Julian said to be true, but there was no way she was about to give him that bit of satisfaction.
“Come on Susan, what are we doing here? I don't want to fight you, even more so, I don't want to hurt you.”
“How did you think this was going to go? We aren't about to be subjected to any of the interrogation tactics you all have planned. I was with you guys for years, I know how this goes. I won't let you do to Dr. Connors and Cayde what we did to those we captured for all those years.”
The Ascendants: Genesis Page 5
