Hybrid - Forced Vengeance

by Ballan, Greg

  When would the doctors and scientists come for her child? The moment was inevitable and then she would be helpless to prevent it. Ross held all the power. The arrogant colonel could pluck her child away at will and take him to some far corner of the Earth, to a remote military or government facility where her son would be at their mercy. She had never wished ill upon anyone, but the fanatic colonel proved to be the exception.

  The titanium door opened and her stomach clenched as Colonel Ross stepped through with his usual three, armed stooges and a medical team. “Congratulations, Mrs. Knight, it’s a half breed,” he said maliciously.

  Shanda shielded her baby from his view. “Only a weak, impotent little man picks on a child.”

  “I will not fence with you today, Mrs. Knight. I’m going to make this very simple. These doctors are here to take your son to a med lab for a precursory examination. If you don’t hand him over willingly, we can shoot you full of drugs and then take him.

  “Either way, we’re taking him.” Ross then sneered, adding, “Or … we can simply kill you as you’re of no value to us now. You’ve delivered a living half-breed and have outlived your usefulness – and your obituary has already been written. The world believes that you’re dead anyway. I’ll simply be ending the life of somebody who doesn’t exist.” Ross cackled with delight.

  “You really are thick, colonel. My husband knows I’m alive and he’s probably already turning things upside down looking for me. He’s a detective, you dumb fuck, with national and international connections. How long do you actually think you can hide me here?” she asked in the most arrogant, confident tone she could muster.

  Ross wrinkled his brow and gestured for Phelps to lower the barrier. Two soldiers pointed riffles toward the sergeant, ensuring his obedient compliance. Phelps shot Shanda an apologetic glance and then lowered the heavy wall. Once the wall recessed into the floor, the two soldiers shifted their aim to her while the third aimed a tranquilizer pistol at her.

  The medical team cautiously entered the chamber. She retreated, clutching her child tightly against her chest.

  “No,” she whispered to them as tears streamed down her face. “Leave him alone.”

  The first doctor that reached for her child received a sharp kick to his face and fell back whimpering and clutching his nose. The soldier fired the tranquilizer dart but missed his mark as she avoided the projectile. The two other medical technicians took that moment to close the distance and grab her. She screamed with terror and anguish, but the bulky medics held her firm. The wounded doctor gently took her son from her arms, despite the damage done.

  The child sensed his mother’s distress and released a piercing shriek so loud and powerful that the sonic concussion threw Ross and the three soldiers off their feet. Shanda collapsed as her stark terror was amplified through her child and then sent back through their psychic connection.

  The child’s shriek was of such a pitch and frequency that it clearly sent shivers through all who heard it. Shanda stood and marched over to the doctor who still held her child. The doctor deposited the screaming child in her outstretched arms.

  As soon as Erik Jr. felt his mother’s embrace, the awful banshee-like wail ceased.

  Everyone stared at the child in amazement and disbelief.

  * * * *

  Ross recalled the scream that the hybrid warrior had emitted prior to his final battle with the Seelak during the Hopedale Mountain incident. That sonic wave destroyed every windshield and glass pane for over a mile, as well as blowing the Seelak warrior twenty feet off the ground. A sudden terrible realization struck him. He had been standing outside the enhanced telekinetic shielding and he’d still felt the child’s desperate fright. Could the child’s sire have also detected his son’s terror?

  * * * *

  As Erik pushed a cart of dirty dishes toward the kitchen, he was overcome by an overwhelming sense of panic and fear. He was no stranger to fear, but this was overwhelming. He released the cart, falling to his knees and clutching his head as the powerful emotions threatened to overwhelm his body. The cart crashed into a table, spilling plates and glasses on the carpeted floor.

  Erik heard a tease from his friend, then Jeff was upon him obviously worrying over his collapse. Alissa heard the shout of Jeff’s alarm and ran out of the kitchen. She too, spotted Erik and immediately ran over.

  Erik felt his body swell and saw his flesh change from pink to silver while his torso expanded and the seams of his shirt ripped. No, not here in front of all these people. He sought his reflection in the mirror over the counter. His eyes had already become two embers of aqua fire.

  Alissa knelt down beside him and gently placed a hand on the side of his head, the force of the stark fear and panic seemed to overwhelm her and caused her body to recoil so hard that she was thrown from his side.

  “What is it?” Jeff screamed, “What’s going on?”

  By the time Alissa came back to his side, Erik had managed to get a handle on the overwhelming emotions within his body and halt his transformation. As he composed himself a horrible realization struck him. The sensation that felled him traveled on the same frequency that had carried his wife’s message over the oceans to him in Paris. Only these last sensations were not subtle and warm – they were raw feelings of fear.

  Their child – albeit protectively cocooned in his wife’s belly – was frightened and Eric was not there to calm his wife or sooth the unborn babe. His wife and baby were obviously in danger, wherever they were, and somehow his child had been able to call to him. A realization hit him. That was what Shanda had meant by ‘us’ in her earlier message – mother and child.

  * * * *

  Jeff looked down at his friend; he had seen him angry, frustrated and depressed, but for the decade that he had known Erik Knight, he had never seen Erik cry.

  “What is it, Erik?” Jeff asked again.

  Erik looked up through tear-filled eyes. “My child and wife are screaming for me, and I’m not there to help,” he said in a low, desperate voice as he got to his feet.

  He attempted a step but stumbled. He caught himself on the edge of a table, paused for a moment and then raised his fist and smashed the table to splinters with one blow. His sorrow and grief was quickly being replaced by rage.

  “I’ll find them and God help whoever did this. I’ll bury them.” Erik headed out into the darkness.

  “Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” Jeff asked to no one in particular.

  * * * *

  Alissa went outside and watched Erik pace the back parking lot like a caged animal. She could feel the fury emanating from every fiber of the detective’s body. She sensed the overwhelming need that he had to lash out at something – at anything that would allow him to blow off steam.

  His body changed into the Esper warrior, which burst the seams of his shirt and jeans. The massive silver warrior then ripped the tattered shirt from his body and flexed powerful pectoral muscles. His liquid chrome flesh reflected the moonlight as well as the floodlights in the parking lot. He walked over to a nearby boulder that had been placed there by a bulldozer, as the focal point for the flower garden.

  The hybrid hefted the car-sized rock over his head and tossed it into the air. Then he raised a fist and smashed the rock into fragments. Pulverized granite fragments rained down upon the nearby wooded area and parking lot.

  Only then did the silver warrior slowly changed back to his human form – a human devoured by sadness.

  * * * *

  Erik pulled up the remains of his tattered jeans and then sat next to Alissa.

  “Feel better?” she asked.

  He nodded sadly.

  “When did you find out that she was pregnant?”

  “Earlier this afternoon. She was abducted because she was pregnant with our child. I had to beat the truth out of her doctor. The government has been watching and waiting for this development ever since we got married. When she went in for confirmation of h
er pregnancy, her physician had contacted someone. They erased all medical records and arranged the car accident to cover up her abduction.

  Martin claims he has no knowledge of this, but I could tell he suspects something – someone. I don’t know if he’d tell me if he did know. It’s a different game at his level; the layers of subterfuge are mind-boggling.”

  “Did you just sense your unborn child or Shanda?”

  “It was our child. Something terrible must be happening to Shanda and the baby is reacting to it on a purely emotional level – which, in turn, is being transmitted back to me.” Erik shook his head, desperate at his helplessness. “That means the baby has Esper characteristics. That’s what the abductors must be after, an easy way to study, and potentially harness, those abilities. If everyone believes that Shanda died, they have complete access to the child once she gives birth. They would have nothing to fear from me and no more use for her. If I hadn’t been contacted in Paris I’d never know she was alive and never know I had a child. That’s why the subterfuge, it keeps me in the dark and out of the picture.”

  “C’mon, Erik, let’s go back inside. You need to plan your next move. You’ve done all that can be done in one day. Hopefully Mr. Denton will have some answers for you in the morning.” Alissa took her friend by the arm and guided him back to his apartment.

  * * * *

  Nancy Bertoni stared at the folder full of papers and placed it on the table beside her. The contents of the stolen files still shook her. Now she understood why her boss had been so moody and agitated after his meeting with the military, and why he seemed so determined to dig deeper into the case. The sooner she could make contact with Detective Erik Knight, the better it would be – both for her and for his pregnant wife.

  Michael Sparks gave his life trying to do the right thing, after she unknowingly betrayed him. Now it was up to her to set things right and let her boss rest in peace, by accomplishing his final mission for him.

  Going back to Madam’s in Hopedale would be risky. Agents would be waiting for her. But, she had to gamble that Erik Knight would also be there. She’d read of the detective’s inhuman powers. He could protect her from those agents who wished to terminate her and she knew she had to get the file to him as soon as possible.

  She’d prepared a contingency plan in case of capture. Having meticulously copied all of the documents earlier in the day, she’d prepared a long letter for her brother in Rome, NY, explaining her dire situation.

  Her backup plan was to leave the copies at the Hopedale Post Office and have the postal branch inform the detective that he had a priority package awaiting his signature. Priority mail was more expensive, but it required Mr. Knight to show up in person for the package. Failure was not an option; she would succeed or die trying.

  * * * *

  Martin Denton was not pleased with what he had unearthed. Robert Hildebrandt was the key advisor to the Main Chair of the Appropriations Board of the Senate Defense Committee. The SDC was the principal vehicle that allocated and appropriated defense dollars to black ops projects and overseas intelligence operations.

  Denton looked over several computer printouts he’d received from his mole on that committee and none of the information was good. He was holding in his hands evidence of corruption and cover-ups – on a massive scale. Somehow several billion dollars in appropriation had been funneled away from legitimate contractors … to Pendelcorp. The mining and development company had somehow gotten in on several classified contracts.

  Denton accessed his government database but found no official record of Pendelcorp being listed as a prime on any defense contract, and he found no evidence that the company had passed the rigorous Department of Defense security scrutiny to become a certified military acquisition corporation.

  “I smell a rat, Mr. Hildebrandt,” he said, reviewing the hard copy once more. “Richard Pendelton, how do you play into this mess?”

  Denton knew of the bad blood between Pendelton and his agent. As he tapped the intercom to reach his secretary, several dark thoughts passed through his mind.

  “Marcia, get Mr. Robert Hildebrandt on the phone and don’t take any bullshit. I want him on the phone within the next five minutes or tell him I’ll have his ass on a platter before the sun rises.

  Chapter 17: Birth date +2 days, 0830 hrs

  Lt. Colonel Bill Anderson sat at his station, aware of the two guards keeping an eye on his every move. Colonel Ross wasn’t taking any chances with anyone at this point. He felt that the colonel had snapped. Ross’s actions were irrational and reckless and would have consequences for the entire planet.

  Anderson accepted his superior’s offer to return to work with the hope that he could talk some sense into his old friend and prevent the upcoming conflagration.

  The hybrid child seemed another lost cause. Ross had flooded their chamber with sleeping gas and only succeeded in giving the mother some much needed sleep. The infant stayed by his mother’s side, unaffected by the gas, his eerie blue eyes glowing like two hot fires.

  There were too many failures at this point in their operation: The loss of Gray’s ship, Sentinel, the Tesla prototype, three M-1 tanks and several dozen soldiers’ lives –and finally the situation with the hybrid child. Each failure was devastating when considered alone, but when Anderson added them up in his mind the cost was cataclysmic.

  It was only a matter of time before Knight came for his wife. The hybrid child could call to his father through the barriers if it felt threatened. No one could have predicted such circumstances – just another in a series of unforeseen bad events that plagued Groom Lake ever since Ross had taken over command.

  Anderson looked at a monitor, watching the representatives from the Pentagon growing restless in their confinement. Their looks of outrage were unmistakable.

  “Sir? What do we do with our guests?” he asked Ross as he gestured toward the small monitor.

  “Let them stew for awhile. I’ve got bigger fish to fry at this point.” Ross answered curtly as he studied six blips on the main display screen. “What do you make of those?” he asked Anderson while pointing toward the images from the Mars Hubble 3 deep surveillance telescope.

  “I think the largest of the blips is a carrier vessel for ground troops or ground equipment. The smaller ones appear to be escorts to defend the larger craft from space-based threats. To sum it up: The beginning of a patrol or strike force,” Anderson answered bluntly.

  “At least we agree on that.” Ross ran a hand through his hair. “They’re preparing for invasion.”

  “I agree. Invasion is a possibility,” Anderson replied. “But they could simply be preparing a show of force without real intention for a conflict. They also could have this fleet on standby in case an attempted negotiation is met with aggression or force. We need to let them play the first card, sir. They’re just sitting there. They must know we see them. Hubble 3 is in their path. Perhaps they are also watching us to see how we react to their build up.”

  “Hubble 3 has transmitted IR and high frequency UV imaging and image reconstruction based on pixel re-coloring of the different infrared frequencies and this is what we’ve come up with.” Ross handed Anderson a set of computer generated pictures.

  The images were slightly out of focus but it was easy to make out the features of the main ship and its escort cruisers. The carrier ship was wedge-shaped like the space probe they had battled earlier, but the escorts were typical flying-saucer shaped circles.

  “Here’s what UV shows,” Ross said handing him another set of photographs.

  The UV pictures provided greater contrast and detail. The carrier vessel cast an ominous shadow against the surfaces of the other craft. Anderson’s flesh ran cold as he tried to calculate the mass and size of such a vessel.

  Anderson whispered in amazement. “The primary ship must be the size of two, maybe three of our biggest aircraft carriers.”

  “Eight hundred twenty-two meters long, three hundred five me
ters across the beam and seventy meters high,” Ross recited the stats from another sheet of paper.

  “Colonel, that one ship is nearly twenty times the size of the Goliath Battle platform. We wouldn’t stand a chance with that fleet in a space battle.”

  “I’ve been coordinating with NORAD and Cheyenne Mountain. We have a fleet of twenty modified shuttles, armed with nuclear warheads and pulse cannons, ready for launch from various bases throughout the country.”

  “Does NORAD realize that we started this fight with Sentinel, with the abduction of Gray and the altercation with that probe?” Anderson asked.

  “Let’s not rehash this.” Ross’s voice cracked like a whip.

  “Sir! You’re starting an intergalactic conflict with a technologically superior race of beings. You’re writing a check that this planet can’t cash. Will you doom all of humanity because of some personal vendetta against a race of beings you don’t even know?” Anderson took in a deep breath; he was livid.

  Ross said nothing – seemed impervious.

  “Damn it all, Art, we go back twenty-five years. This isn’t like you. Think of the ramifications.…”

  The gunshot rang through the control center. Anderson slumped into his chair, gaping at Ross who held the smoking Colt .45 pistol. Blood seeped through the front of his blue jersey, the stain getting bigger. Ross knelt by his side.

  “For the sake of our friendship, Bill, I only winged you. You’ll live, but you’ve definitely ended our friendship. I counted on you to back me up, no matter what. You betrayed me, sold me out for some cheap moral platitude,” Ross spat out.

  “I’m happy to disappoint you, sir,” Anderson said weakly over his shoulder as two guards carried him away.

  “Have medics patch him up then put him with the politicians,” Ross commanded as he put the gun back in his holster.