Nightfall

by Peter Hoole

  “Where to?”

  “Have you ever been to Phoenix?”

  Darcy was confused. “Not for a while. What’s in Phoenix?” she asked.

  “Not what - Who,” Caleb said in response.

  “Okay, then…” Darcy replied, annoyed by Caleb’s obtuseness. “Who is in Phoenix?”

  “Mike Dunleavy.”

  Darcy was taken back. “Oh shit. You mean the former Chief-of-Staff?”

  “One and the same.”

  “How can he help?”

  “I’ll tell you on the way, babe. Get comfortable. We’ve got a drive ahead of us.”

  Chapter Seven

  It had been less than eight hours since he had buried the package.

  Emmett had spent the night and day doing what he usually did – sitting in his apartment, watching television. The only time he ventured out was to buy some food – usually some vile take-out from the local Chinese place.

  It had been his existence since he was moved to Seattle. He had become friends with his television and the four walls of his living room. He was not permitted to contact anyone, search for anyone or perform any task unless instructed.

  It wasn’t a sacrifice for him. In fact, as he had been told by Pierre at his last face-to-face encounter, if he should complete his assigned tasks, he would guarantee his place in the community. His place alongside his present and future family. That reward was greater than any sacrifice he could make.

  The phone rang, and Emmett answered. He was relieved the call had finally come.

  “Pierre?” he asked

  ”Yes, Emmett,” Pierre replied.

  “Is it time?”

  “Yes it is. Be in position before dawn. Ensure your phone is on.”

  “Do we know which flight yet?”

  “Yes. I will tell you the details soon.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there.”

  “Good. I will call you. Now Emmett…”

  “Yes?”

  “In two hours, start the last bit of chatter.”

  “Yes, sir”

  “Good luck”

  With that, Pierre ended the call.

  Emmett began his preparations.

  As a part of his duties, Emmett was charged with some of the misdirection. Every once in a while, Emmett would receive a thumb-drive in the mail. On each drive would be an audio file or email text. He would then send the communications to phone numbers and email addresses provided by Pierre.

  Each email and phone call would leave clues.

  The details of the conversations would lead those paying attention to believe there was an imminent attack planned on America. The conversations would act like bread crumbs.

  Bread crumbs that would lead the listeners wherever Pierre led them.

  Now he had received the call, it was up to Emmett to lay the last of the clues.

  Only Emmett, Pierre and some select members of the Council knew the real reason the plane was to be shot down.

  The plan to take down the plane wasn’t to cause terror to Americans. It was much simpler than that. The plane’s destruction was merely a distraction.

  Emmett truly believed the actions he would be taking in the next few hours would not only improve his own life, but the lives of everyone who deserved it.

  With that thought, Emmett prepared for the last step in his mission. He laid out the clothes he would wear to finish the job that had been started months ago – a dark hoodie, dark jeans and black shoes.

  Once prepared, he lay on the bed, and ran through the journey in his mind.

  He replayed the walk up the hill, and the successful targeting of the plane.

  Confident about what he needed to do, and secure in the knowledge that he was doing the right thing, Emmett fell asleep.

  Caleb and Darcy had begun their long journey to Phoenix. Making their way east on the I10, Darcy’s mind filled with an endless number of questions. Accompanying the questions was a growing sense of fear. Fear that she might not really know the man she was with, the man she’d known since high-school. The man she had always trusted… and loved.

  Her mind raced with a variety of emotions, and all the while she fought to appear calm in front of Caleb.

  As they drove, Caleb kept a sharp eye on his surroundings. The further they drove, the more he relaxed. There was no sign of any cars behind them that could be tailing him.

  Fortunately, the highway was relatively quiet, with more cars travelling toward the sun and fun of California, rather that the heat and desert of Arizona. It made it much easier for Caleb to keep track of the other cars on the road.

  When he was completely satisfied they were safe, he turned to Darcy, summoning all the compassion he could. “Go on, Darc…” he stated, “ask me.”

  Darcy remained silent for a minute, which stretched out to two. She didn’t know where to start, she had so many questions. Why was there no information in Caleb’s file? Why did he never talk about his work? How did he know the former Chief-of-Staff of the United States? Why was Paul so interested in what Caleb was doing?

  “Well…” she began slowly, “I’ll ask, if you can promise me one thing.”

  “What’s that babe?” Caleb replied trying to keep his voice light.

  “Can you promise me that, whatever I ask, you will tell the truth?”

  It was Caleb’s turn to pause. He didn’t really expect the question. For the time he had known Darcy, he had never lied to her. Why did she think he would start now? The only thing he could think was that, since she had seen his vacant file, she now saw him as a government ghost. He feared she may see him as a stranger.

  Caleb turned back to Darcy and saw the look in her eye.

  It was then he knew that the time was right.

  Caleb knew then that Darcy was the only person he could trust, and the only person he could talk to about his work.

  He knew he could only give her one answer.

  “I will never lie to you babe…” he said, his emotions getting the better of him.

  “Well… Ok then…” Darcy continued, surprised by his emotional answer, “I don’t know where to start…”

  “How about I start it for you?” Caleb asked.

  “Ok…” said Darcy, happy that Caleb had decided to open up.

  “Well, I’ll start with the file…”

  Darcy listened intently.

  “It’s pretty much standard operating procedure for most operations the government would classify as… covert. I was approached by my CO and asked if I wanted to do more for the country. While I had been on some pretty tough assignments, I was basically a grunt. I would follow orders, do my job and come home”

  “Yeah, I remembered that. It was nice. We had a good little routine going’ there for a while…”

  “I know. It was good. And to be honest, it was what made the next decision I made so difficult. About five years ago, as I said, my CO asked me to do more. But I needed more information. So he gave me some. He gave me a number to call. That number led me to a meeting…”

  Darcy continued to pay close attention.

  “That meeting was with Dunleavy.” Caleb explained

  “Wait…” Darcy said, “five years ago?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He was just ending his time in the CIA… about to take the reins in DC.”

  “That’s right babe. That’s why it didn’t seem weird. I’d heard it happened all the time – where Marines, SEALs and Delta’s would meet with top level intelligence. It basically meant that what you were about to do was important… or borderline illegal.”

  “Illegal?”

  “Well… not illegal… just… not completely legal. It meant that if we were caught, they wouldn’t admit to it, and we’d be hung out.”

  “Wow…”

  “Yeah… ‘Wow’ was right. It was the kind of job that everyone aspired to. To put your ass on the line and make a real difference to the world. To make a difference to the lives of Americans. I tell ya babe, I was exci
ted. I mean, don’t get me wrong, part of me was scared…”

  “Scared… you? Big Marine-boy like you?”

  “Of course babe. Shit, we were going into hotspots where intelligence was a bit sketchy, asked to do things that no-one else would… or even could. Each mission meant I could die. I was scared.”

  Caleb paused, and made sure Darcy knew that he meant what he was about to say next.

  “I was scared because I had something to lose. Something that meant the world to me. I was scared I would never see you again”

  Darcy was speechless. She knew he cared about her, and he knew he loved her. She had no idea he that she meant so much to him though.

  “Good news though…” Caleb continued, “I didn’t die.”

  Caleb put his thumb up and produced a big grin.

  Darcy couldn’t help but giggle.

  “Anyway, for about four years, the same pattern continued. Dunleavy would call, and we’d go on a mission. We went places all over the world. We had an amazing success rate. We were the best. We were his go-to team.”

  Then Caleb paused.

  “I take that back. While we did what was expected, at least from a mission success to failure ratio, I can’t say all the missions were a success. We lost more than a dozen soldiers over the time I was in charge. Good men, and a couple of good women.”

  Darcy put her hand on his shoulder. Her touch soothed him.

  “They meant a lot to you?” she asked.

  “They were good people…”

  Caleb refocused, and continued, “After four years, as you know, Hawkins got re-elected, and Dunleavy moved on. I never found out why. Just assumed it was the ways things worked. But still, in the last six month of missions, they changed…”

  “How?”

  “Well… it started that we were going to the normal places you’d expect. China, North Korea, Pakistan… But then we started getting sent to, I don’t know, we started doing missions in…in. Let’s just say, they were supposed to be friendly countries.”

  “Friendly countries still have secrets babe…” Darcy said.

  Caleb was caught off-guard by her candour.

  “Yeah, I guess… still, it just felt… I don’t know… off.”

  “Did you ever talk to Dunleavy about it?”

  “Didn’t get a chance. He quit as Chief-of-Staff and I haven’t spoken to him since.”

  “Wait, but you said that was twelve months ago…”

  “That’s right.”

  “But, you’ve been on missions since…”

  “I was just getting to that babe…” Caleb continued, “Anyway, I didn’t hear anything for a while, then one day I get a call… from Hawkins”

  “The President?”

  “Yeah… he told me that he was taking over from Mr Dun…”

  “Wait. Are you telling me the President was assigning you missions?”

  “Yeah… Just like Dunleavy.”

  “Caleb, don’t you get it? The President was breaking all kinds of laws doing that. Yeah sure, he’s the Commander-in-Chief. Doesn’t mean he can have his own private unit to do his work.”

  “I’m not sure babe. It’s kind of the point of covert. We get told where to go, and we go there.”

  “So, what happened?” Darcy began.

  Before Caleb could answer, Darcy was struck by a realisation, “Shit, was he killed because of this? The President?”

  “I’m not sure babe, that’s why we’re going to Dunleavy. I reckon that Paul, while researching me, stumbled onto something that took him down to Australia. Whatever it was, I’m hoping that Dunleavy might be able to help us out.”

  “Shit, I hope so babe. Sounds like we are in deep. No wonder there might be someone after us.” Darcy was openly panicking.

  “If they can get to the President, what hope do we have?” she continued.

  “Babe…” it was now Caleb’s turn to do the calming, “Babe, it’s gonna be ok. We’ve got a plan, and we’re not in LA. There’s no-one following us. It’s gonna be ok.”

  “Really?” Darcy asked, not sure if she could believe him

  “Really.” Caleb exclaimed, trying to sound calm.

  They drove in silence for a few miles as Caleb gave Darcy the time to let it all sink in.

  After a short time, Caleb decided Darcy needed to know the important part.

  “Darcy, there’s one more thing…”

  He proceeded to tell Darcy about the conversation he had with the President. He told her about the Source.

  “The Source?” she asked.

  “Yeah, that’s what he said... ‘Find the Source’.”

  “Was that it?” Darcy asked, somewhat calmed by her curiosity.

  “No idea, but it’s important” Cal replied.

  “So, what do we know about the Source? After all, if Hawkins felt the need to tell you about it, with his last thought, it must be important.”

  “I agree, but nothing really comes into my mind about it. I’ve tried to think back to the missions, but I can’t remember anything even close to it.”

  Darcy paused for thought.

  “Maybe the Source is in Australia?” she said, trying to be logical.

  “Maybe… I’m hoping Dunleavy knows.” Caleb replied.

  Darcy looked out the window, in deep thought about what to do next.

  She couldn’t come up with anything.

  “Well…” she said, “Better step on it Marine Boy. We’ve gotta get to Phoenix”

  Chapter Eight

  Helen had once again begun pacing around the room. The more steps she took, the more frustrated she got. Earlier, she had received some great news, news which meant the plan could move forward.

  Even though she had only waited for an hour, she was growing impatient.

  “Where are they?” she asked Jane, as though her assistant would know the answer.

  Jane shrugged, equally unaware of the reasons for the delay. “Can’t we just get started?” she asked. “Why don’t we just do ourselves—”

  “Don’t be ridiculous!” Helen snapped, affronted that Jane had even dared to suggest it. “You know He is first. He will always be first. It was He, after all, who gave us this gift. Who gave us this chance—” Helen stopped abruptly, thinking she’d heard the door. She was disappointed when the door remained closed. “He gave us our future,” she continued.

  “I know. I know,” Jane said, realising her mistake.

  Helen returned to pacing the laboratory.

  In time, the double-glass doors slid open, and a tall, distinguished gentleman walked in. “Doctor… Nurse…” the man greeted the two women, “It is a great day for us all.”

  The grandeur of the moment, and the man himself, wasn’t lost on the two women.

  “Indeed it is, Sir,” Helen agreed

  Two more people entered the room.

  The first two stood near to the man and the device. Others began forming a queue at the doorway, an older woman in the front. Everyone, aside from Helen and Jane, was dressed in hospital gowns.

  “Please, have a seat.” Helen said as she motioned to the injecting chair, “This shouldn’t take too long…”

  The man stood six feet tall, his salt and pepper hair neatly cut and styled. His strong jaw and piercing eyes added to his physical presence.

  As instructed, he sat in the chair. He had been waiting a long time for this moment, and his heart was filled with joy to think that it was all starting to come to fruition.

  No longer would he have to tolerate the seemingly endless injections. With the serum perfected, he could now stop with all that, and begin the next part of his journey.

  As the man took his seat, he glanced at the other people in the room.

  “Zachary, John – this is it,” he announced to the two men in the room, unable to contain a pleased smile.

  “Indeed, James. Good luck.” Zachary replied. He turned to Helen, and shared a familiar smile. His pride regarding her was palpable.


  The two men then both smiled back at James. They had been with him for the entire journey, and were relieved it was finally moving forward again.

  “Doctor…” James announced, “You may begin.”

  Helen stepped forward, Jane standing eagerly by her side. “Please sit back and relax, sir,” Helen said, as she began preparing the machine. Between them, the two women moved the machine into position.

  Approximately five feet in length and two feet wide, the injecting machine was created from composite steel. Helen and Jane’s reflections clearly visible in the machine as they began to prepare for their first patient.. A large steel plate, about three feet wide by five long, hung directly above James and in the middle of the steel plate, the adjustable injectors were loaded with the serum by the two women.

  The device had been designed so the injectors could be adjusted to the height and width of each individual patient, ensuring the injections were focused on the key areas – femoral veins, and, on either sides of the neck – the jugulars.

  The injections had to be both precise and perfectly timed, as the serum needed to enter the blood stream at its most vital points. This was an essential part to the procedure because the patient’s blood needed to mesh with the serum virtually instantaneously.

  Significant failures had occurred in the past, during both animal and human testing. Helen had grown increasingly frustrated as they’d continued to suffer failures with the single injection procedure they’d originally used. While the serum had still worked without the use of the device, it was not nearly as effective as the four-point injection.

  Realizing that all the injections needed to occur simultaneously, Helen had worked to perfect the delivery system, resulting in the machine now standing over the top of her first patient. She patted James’s arm reassuringly as she moved the lower part of his gown to expose his upper, inner thigh.

  Once again she adjusted the machine, lowering the device to within millimetres of James’s skin, ensuring each injector was lined up precisely.

  When she was confident everything was perfectly arranged, she spoke to Jane, who was stationed at a terminal three feet away from the patient. “We’re ready, Jane. Please begin the procedure.”