by W. R. Hobbs
“Sure. Be upstairs by 12:00 p.m. They have arranged your transportation,” he replied.
“Thank you, sir,” Leroux barely responded.
Why the hell do they want me at Dugway without my team? The Ark Protocol would have at least five scientists reporting from Jackson, the young doctor contemplated with only a cursory knowledge of the one thing that made any sense at the moment.
The Ark Protocol was a contingency plan to protect certain high priority individuals with their relocation to strategic regional underground facilities in the event of a catastrophic global threat. Only its participants knew of the protocol and that was the reason Leroux had knowledge of it. Since there were no apparent imminent world threats and they only asked for her alone, Leroux dismissed the possibility of Ark being activated. As she sat back down at the lab desk, her curiosity and fear battled over the possible reasons for her departure.
CHAPTER 12
Las Vegas - Nevada
Taon’s first few hours of freedom had been filled with one escape after another – the chamber – the facility – and then the outskirts of Las Vegas, where he was forced down at 6 a.m. local time. The Griffin’s cold plasma shield was disrupted by the single hit from Dugway’s cannon. The shield utilized an extremely high density plasma to withstand various particle beam weapons, but not at the range Taon’s ship was located when exiting the hanger.
The cannon shot breached the plasma plating above the fighter’s rear engine repulsion compartment. Shortly after takeoff, the shield completely dissipated and the outer hull breach became susceptible to the Griffin’s high velocity shear. The plating began peeling off the aft section causing the graviton repulse engine to disable and the power systems soon followed. Taon was not able to maintain more than Mach 2.8 before he found himself hurdling toward the ground at almost 1800 mph.
Ejecting at such a speed and low altitude was a violent ordeal that found Taon lying on his side, semi-conscious. Taon landed about 350 yards away from the smoldering Griffin which was crinkled up against an outcropping. His fatigued muscles, stinging with pain had not yet fully recuperated from his exertions during the facility escape.
Strapped in the ejection seat, drifting in and out of lucid thought, he could hear the sound of approaching Raiders. Their muffled thumps progressively drew him out of his debilitated state. He looked down at his chest and released the restraints. Rolling to the ground, landing on his hands and knees, the data pad fell out of his chest pocket. It hit the ground face up displaying 0650 PST in the status bar and nothing else. Taon looked up and realized that he had crashed almost an hour ago.
The ship had crashed about 1500 feet west of Cliff Shadows Pkwy in west Las Vegas. The escaped GEO had gathered his composure, rose to his feet, and jogged toward the cover provided by the nearest subdivision, Lone Mountain Vistas.
Taon spent the next couple of hours making his way through one suburban housing maze after another. He counted at least seven drones in his immediate area and the constant aerial surveillance drastically slowed his pace. His course was southeast through the shadows of the vacant condominiums and around the empty backyard pools of the closed and abandoned neighborhoods. Walking by a row of townhomes, he randomly chose one to enter to gain cover from three converging drones. A slight shove breached the door and allowed him access.
Taon quietly closed the door and stayed clear of the shaded front windows. While the drones methodically surveilled the neighborhood, the escaped GEO spent time inspecting the interior. Entering the first floor master bedroom, he was intrigued by some framed photographs hanging above the side table just inside the door. The pictures were of the previous occupant which appeared to be a young man in his mid-20s. As Taon analyzed the pictures, he looked down at his bio-suit and realized a change of attire would be prudent.
He walked further into the room, noticing the opened closet doors and a couple of partially packed suitcases abandoned on the bed next to a pile of empty clothes hangers.
Someone left in a hurry, he surmised.
The ransacked closets were almost entirely void of any clothes but he was impressed by a regal looking outfit left behind. After carefully removing the bio-suit, he grabbed the black tuxedo pants and slipped them on well above his ankles. Taon pulled the inside pant hems completely out making them the proper length. He then put on the white satin long sleeve shirt with a round level black collar and cuffs. The most impressive part to Taon was the two inch column of short horizontal black ropes attached to gold buttons that adorned the garment from the neck line all the way down the front. Finally he shoved on the shiny black leather dress shoes which were very tight but manageable.
Much better he thought, considering that his only experience so far had been nearly naked inside of an uncomfortable protective laboratory suit.
Taon walked back out to the front windows and after determining the drones were gone, he exited the townhome. As he headed toward the center of the city, Taon unknowingly left the safety of the residential cover and approached the ‘restricted zone’ on West Tropicana Ave.
Besides the military bases and ROCs, there were three other types of areas designated by the New Earth Union as protected zones within each of the seven global regions; the Protected Commerce Zones (PCZs) like Sacramento, the Protected Residential Zones (PRZs), which were the private high end residential communities that were retained by the controlling elite, and the Restricted Zones (RZs) like Las Vegas which were controlled by C7 personnel exclusively.
Approaching the corner of Polaris Ave., Taon briefly observed the old Wild Wild West Hotel. As he scanned back down Tropicana Ave, he spotted a twelve foot high barricade blocking the road, stretching the entire length along the western perimeter of the Las Vegas RZ, and running parallel to Interstate 15.
He carefully resumed his approach, continuing to stay clear of the drones and slowly panning cameras on top of the perimeter barricade. As Taon moved closer, he noticed a steady stream of supply trucks taking the I-15 exit that ran over Tropicana Ave. and subsequently the barricade. He tactfully traced the beginning of the exit that was about one block north and directly abutted to the barricade in that section of the interstate.
Taon lined up in the shadow of the last building on Palms Centre Dr., about 120 feet away from where the barricade and the exit joined. Perfectly timing the approaching cargo truck, Taon shot from the shadow and leapt into the air about 40 feet. A fleeting field of weak energy surrounded his body as he sailed through the air landing on top of the truck.
After the truck exited the interstate and dumped back onto Tropicana Ave inside the RZ, Taon jumped off the trailer into the back parking lot of the Excalibur Hotel and Casino. Landing on his feet, he took quick notice of the defense pods which were affixed to the taller buildings. Fortunately they did not take quick notice of him. Except for the rare skirmishes with small ill-equipped gangs, the C7 presence at Vegas had never really encountered a serious threat to its perimeter- at least not until today.
The escaped GEO knew nothing of the old Las Vegas. He knew nothing of any town, new or old. He was making sense out of things as each minute persistently assaulted him. By the time he reached Las Vegas Boulevard South, the streets were bustling even more than the Sin City of decades past. Taon maintained an average pace, weaving in and out of the sometimes dense groups of visitors while walking past the giant Sphinx and Obelisk in front of the shimmering black pyramid at Luxor. The Sphinx itself was more than twice the size of its original counterpart in Egypt. Taon was inextricably attracted to the structure and proceeded up the angled path leading past its front left paw.
When the lobby doors came into his view, Taon froze in his tracks, noticing several men standing guard. These men did not resemble soldiers. They were all dressed in black business suits with identical red and black patches hanging from the left coat pockets. Taon turned around to get out of view but slammed into someone walking up directly behind him.
He looked at the man dressed in
the black suit with a C7 insignia on his chest and attentively said, “Excuse me, I have forgotten something.” He gestured as if he were going back somewhere to retrieve the something.
“Where is your RZ-ID badge?”
“That is what I forgot,” Taon cleverly responded.
“Never mind it worker. Get your ass inside to the Pyramid. They are slammed today,” the C7 guard ordered the apparent waiter.
The Pyramid Cafe was the only dining area still operating at the Luxor and it was especially busy this holiday week. The stocky guard escorted Taon past the other men and pointed at the entrance doors. “Go feed some people!” he barked.
Taon chuckled in his head, Unbelievable.
The crowds were less dense inside the atrium as Taon walked toward the towering stone entrance guarded by enormous replicas of the Colossi of Memnon. Looking upward at the top of the hollowed interior of the thirty story pyramid, he observed the exposed narrowing levels of guest rooms. Continuing past the Colossi, he spotted the cafe just off the main casino floor.
After he walked through the dining area and inside the kitchen, an older grey haired lady holding a tray of steaming covered plates immediately cornered him. The lady looked up at him and said, “Thank god! They got us some more help…Here!” She handed the tray to him and pointed at a room number on the receipt. “Take this up to that deluxe spa suite and get back soon as you can,” she instructed.
Notwithstanding the fact he was wearing a waiter’s uniform, Taon headed toward the thirty-nine degree incliners with the food tray, thinking that his selection of attire was more useful than he could have anticipated. Waiter or not, he was making a delivery to the twenty-sixth floor.
Approaching Las Vegas
Standing on the bridge of a Helios attack cruiser with four C7 officers, Valik’s concentration was interrupted when a superimposed tiny red light blinked in the top corner of his left synthetic eye. He promptly looked down at the flashing incoming message alert on the ship’s communication console and pressed the panel. The image of Prime Delegate Pike appeared on the main viewer that translucently covered the interior of the forward bridge window.
“Agent Valik, the target entered west Las Vegas approximately three hours ago and our systems have not been able to locate him since that time. Your directives have been revised. You are now estimated to arrive at his last known coordinates in sixteen minutes. Commander’s Reyes resources will be at your disposal once you reach the Vegas RZ,” Pike ordered.
For a brief second, the S2 reflected on the importance of passing the first field test – regardless of the difficulty.
Shadow Elite Tactical Hybrids or SETHs were borne from a black ops group named the Shadow Elite which originated shortly after WWII. The SE was the ultimate intervention force utilized by the Bilderberg Group to accomplish their more difficult directives. Rogue governments and leaders that did not acquiesce to the will of the power elite were subject to the reprisal of the Shadow Elite.
This ultra-military strike force of soldiers had harvested more than seventy years of increasingly complex tactical operations experience. Beyond countless false flag operations, the SE had been directly involved in every significant world conflict since the early 1950’s. This group’s overall success was measured and attested by the eventual installation of the C7.
Utilizing the corporate bio-tech research components of their world network, the forerunner of the C7 originated the SETH Program at the turn of the century. Carefully designated corporations and military research facilities were co-opted in an effort to accelerate the field of synthetic cybernetics. Decades of prior research and over 700 billion dollars in new funding accomplished the desired result – the SETH Series One.
The S1 was more human than machine. The first generation of Shadow Elite soldiers was utilized to develop the newer operational prototypes. The primary goal for this series was the mastery of Augmented Cognition - a process whereby the human organic brain utilized its live neurons as a CPU for producing superior real-time cognitive state assessment.
The S1s were first field tested in Afghanistan back in 2011. The ongoing US campaign served as the ideal scenario to evaluate SETH performance. By 2020 subsequent field tests yielded the success of the primary goal. The synergy of synthetic human communication had finally been achieved and even refined.
The S2 was more machine than human. Prototype production of the S2 began in 2028. The successful manipulation of carbon nanotubes in the S1 allowed for extensive cybernetic augmentation of the newer series.
The S2’s arms and legs were completely replaced up to the sockets with fully integrated and articulated robotic appendages. An amorphous alloy pelvis provided an upper socket enabling stabilization for the semi-human torso. The exposed torso was protected with a removable metal vest. The human ribcage, spinal column, scapulas and clavicles were plated with self-healing metal alloys. And two thin alloy bans ran under the muscular of the back from the top of the pelvis to the scapulas providing addition physical support for the 420 pound unit.
Although the head and neck still appeared human, several cybernetic and nano structures were incorporated. The cervical section of the alloyed spinal column was enhanced with polymer supports to compensate for the heavier skull plating.
The brain itself was augmented with a web of graphene allotropes providing the basic structural elements for the carbon nanotubes, nanotori, and nanobuds. Depending on their structure, the nanotubes were programmed either to be metals or semiconductors. An interwoven nanonetwork created shortcuts between the distal and proximal compartments of the neurons. The resulting enhanced neuronal excitability was the linchpin of successfully augmented cognition.
This compilation of flesh and alloy, neurons and nanotubes, blood and wires was designed to eventually become the C7’s Global Guard. The validation of the S2 in such a position now depended wholly upon Valik’s success. As the modified attack cruiser shot toward its new coordinates, Valik reviewed a series of close proximity topography images that showed Taon’s tracks leading from the Cliff Shadows Pkwy.
Where are you hiding? the S2 wondered.
CHAPTER 13
Dugway Facility
General Bracken took a break from his planning and established a secure channel to Colonel Osborne. The desk viewer flickered to show Osborne standing in Bracken’s living room.
“Sir, we are loading the luggage now. We should be in the air in about five minutes,” Osborne assured.
“Osborne, make damned sure they get here safely. Check them into level 120 when you get back and report to me in my office.” Bracken ordered.
“Yes sir. We will be back within the hour. Osborne out.”
Old Manhattan
Lindherst’s morning was the complete opposite of what he had anticipated. He was prepared to conduct a briefing to the C7 about the successful emergence of GEO-0131 but ended up alerting them about his escape instead. Then he learned that he was to take command of the world’s largest underground fortification. And now he was monitoring the field data from an unsuccessful search for their experiment that effectively disappeared in Vegas.
The Director had a history of tactfully managing challenges, an ability that elevated him to his current position. Lindherst had proven both his loyalty and worth to the C7 many times. The 6 foot, 53 year old native of Maryland was a thin man that wore his short graying hair to the left. His coldly decisive hazel eyes calculated the additional new variables while he sat in his plush downtown office in old Manhattan.
New York City was designated as the new provisional capital of the recently formed NAU. Lower Manhattan was rezoned exclusively for NAU government centers and agencies only. The Director’s agency occupied over half the floors in the former Freedom Tower and his office was at the top. Lindherst’s admitted intoxicant of choice was power. He possessed no remorse for the death of his former government and viewed the current geo-political paradigm simply as an opportunity to consolidate more power under hi
m.
Lindherst was gazing out of the glass tower when a series of beeps signaled an incoming message. He voice activated the viewer which darkened the plasma windows and displayed the communication signal across the entirety of his 60 foot wide view overlooking the city.
Incoming Message from NAU Colonel Osborne
“Put it through,” Lindherst said to the computer causing the colonel’s image to appear.
“Director Lindherst, I have some pertinent information about recent developments concerning General Bracken,” the Colonel relayed. ”I am currently on my way back to Dugway with his family. It seems Bracken has something planned that I have no intel on thus far.” Osborne continued, “Additionally, it looks like Hauer helped in the escape of the GEO. And you should also know that there seems to be an increase in communications among the NAU Regional Military Zone leaders.”
“Colonel Osborne, be advised that the Dugway base will be under direct NAU Command control by 2400 hours tonight, as ordered by the Council of Seven today. Once you return to the base, I suggest you observe Bracken closely and report on any other significant activity,” ordered Lindherst.
“I am aware of your C7 orders director. I am providing you this information in order to allow you the opportunity to accelerate your acquisition of this base. The C7’s intention for Dugway to be commandeered under its direct control will be achieved regardless,” Osborne warned ominously.
Colonel Osborne and Director Lindherst had developed a healthy animosity toward one another ever since the first time they met. About two years ago, Prime Delegate Pike showed up in Lindherst’s Manhattan office with Colonel Osborne. Pike informed the director that Osborne was going to be assigned to the Dugway facility to keep an eye on the GEO Project. Although no clear declaration was made that Osborne was directly representing the C7, he was someone to whom Lindherst yielded - just in case.
