Code Frostbite (STORM Book 1)

by John Darling

  The flight went by very fast and as soon as we hit our cruising altitude, we began to descend again. Thankfully, my Mom managed to close her eyes and rest for a few hours. I felt extremely bad for having to wake her when we landed. I waited until all the other passengers left the plane so she could have a few more minutes to rest. Uncle Keith left to get our bags and told me to meet him at baggage claim as I gently began to nudge her.

  “Hey Mom, we have to get off the plane now.”

  She grabbed my hand and violently squeezed it as she woke up, as if she came out of a nightmare. Slowly, I helped her to her feet as she regained her bearings. Out of nowhere she hugged me. Without any hesitation, I immediately hugged her back.

  I love my Mom so much. Our relationship is just as special and unique as the one I had with my Dad. It’s no secret that she cares deeply for me. Throughout my life, she has given me everything. Like Uncle Keith was always there for the big moments my Dad missed, my Mom was there for the little ones that were crucial to my childhood. She is the definition of an unsung hero. She made sure that I finished my homework and always had clean clothes to wear every day. Without all of the work my Mom put into raising me, I wouldn’t have been able to get into such a great school with a world-class education like Kings Point. Even more importantly, I wouldn’t have made it to my sophomore year without her endless support.

  “Please be careful, Trevor. I’m afraid for what lies ahead of you. I don’t want you to do this but we don’t have a choice. I just can’t lose another child.”

  My Mom loves children and always wanted to have a big family. Her plan did not go as planned and I showed up when my Mom was only seventeen. Even though she was very young, she always told me that I was a blessing and a “happy accident”. She never used the word “mistake” when talking about me, which meant so much to me. No one ever wants to be thought of as a mistake. My mom’s parents were extremely disappointed with the situation when they found out I was coming, but my Mom put the negativity aside and took the challenge of being a parent head on.

  A few years after I was born, my parents tried to have another child. They were unsuccessful for many years and it wasn’t until I was thirteen that she finally became pregnant again. I remember her being the happiest person alive. A few weeks later, she went to the doctor for a routine check-up and they discovered that the baby’s heart had stopped beating. They ran several tests and discovered that my Mom had breast cancer. She was immediately rushed to the hospital and the next day, they began doing treatments. My Dad had been deployed for some time before we found out about the new baby, but when the news got to him, he took the next flight back to Boston.

  I still remember that awful day as if it was yesterday. At the time, I was really into collecting hockey cards and several of my friends at school liked to trade them. Of course we did it during classes and did our best not to get caught by our teachers as we not-so-discretely passed them across the room. Just as I finished passing a small stack of cards to one of my friends, my trigonometry teacher, Mrs. Klein, lowered her phone from her ear and told me that I needed to report to the main office immediately.

  Uncle Keith was waiting for me and didn’t tell me the horrible news until we reached the car. At first, I was very happy to see him since he had been away on deployment for almost a year. However, once I learned that my first sibling just died, my mood drastically changed. Hearing that my Mom also now had cancer sent another shockwave of fear through my body. We drove straight to the hospital and I found my Mom lying down on a hospital bed and hooked up to various machines. I was able to hug and kiss her just before she went through her first operation.

  Cancer is one of those diseases that you don’t mess around with, especially breast cancer. The doctors explained to me that despite all of their best efforts, there was a chance that my Mom could pass since the cancer had gone unnoticed for a few months. Thankfully, my Mom proved them wrong and successfully beat the cancer. It was a grueling six months of fighting before the doctors determined that she was cancer-free. I’d always known Mom was a fighter, but I’ve never seen anyone fight the way she did. She never lost faith and kept herself going by constantly talking about the future with me. It was truly an inspiration seeing her win that war.

  I wasn’t the only one who stood by her side through that six months of hell. Two days after Mom began her first operation, Dad showed up at the hospital. He ran right past me and into Mom’s room. They hugged each other for quite some time, and it marked the only time in my life that I can recall seeing Dad cry. I eventually wandered into the room and joined in on the emotion. After all, our small family did lose a member. I wish we could have met Natalie, even if it was just for a day. Hell, one minute with her would have meant the world to my family.

  Two months later, the hospital let my Mom leave and continue her recovery at our home. My Dad took some time off to assist her and we even made a small memorial for Natalie in our backyard. I still feel a tremendous amount of pain for losing her. She is my sister and I’ll always love her.

  “I’ll be careful Mom. You have my word.”

  About a minute later a stewardess politely asked us to exit the plane. I gave my Mom a big kiss on the cheek and then let go of her. I may not know what lies ahead, but I’m ready to take it on head first, like the way she fearlessly took on her cancer.

  Several minutes later we found Uncle Keith waiting near one of the carousels in the baggage claim area with our duffle bags.

  “Everything OK? You guys took longer than I expected to get off the plane.”

  “Yes, Keith, we’re good for now. Is there a car waiting for us?”

  “Yes, Floyd is waiting for us. It’s time to go.”

  I grabbed one of the bags from Uncle Keith and we followed him out of the airport. Parked along the sidewalk are three black Suburbans waiting in line. They stood out like sore thumbs in the midst of all of the yellow taxis, buses and passenger vehicles, Uncle Keith opened up the trunk of the middle one and loaded our bags into it. I threw my bag in and got into the back seat. As soon as I closed the side door, I found a strange looking man with a thick mustache and cowboy hat on glaring at me.

  “Hi there Trevor, name’s Floyd Waters.”

  He stuck out his hand and I hesitated for a moment before shaking it. He has an interesting Southern accent. Based on that, a rather obnoxious looking belt buckle and the cowboy hat, I bet he was from Texas.

  “Pleasure to meet you partner. I’ve heard nothing but good things from your father. Man, it’s going to take some time before I get used him being gone.”

  He let go of my hand and then turned to face my Mom, who got into the backseat next to me. It’s clear that Floyd had known my Dad.

  “Charlotte, good to see you again. Of course, I was hoping that the next time our paths crossed would be under different circumstances.”

  “Good to see you too, Floyd.”

  And he knew Mom too! I’m beginning to seriously question how much my parents kept from me all these years. Uncle Keith got into the front passenger seat and he and Floyd exchanged greetings. Clearly, they have been friends for quite some time. The black Suburban in front of ours pulled out from the curb into traffic. Floyd turned the vehicle on and followed suit. I really hoped that wherever we’re going would have some answers.

  “Just sit back and relax Trevor. It’s going to be a few hours until we get there.”

  Uncle Keith reclined his seat back, invading my leg space and put on a pair of headphones. I looked over at my Mom, who appeared to be trying to take another nap. I’ve held back about all of my questions thus far, but maybe since Floyd is the only one listening, now is a good time to find out where exactly this journey is taking us. I decided to wait a few more minutes before making my move, as our little convoy traveled deeper into the Nevada desert.

  “Hey, Mr. Waters?”

  We made eye contact for a split second in the rear view mirror before his eyes darted back to the road ahead. />
  “What’s up Trevor?”

  “Where exactly are we going?”

  He sighed.

  “I had a feeling they were keeping you in the dark. Believe me, I understand what you’re going through. I was shocked when I discovered that my family had been harboring secrets from me my whole life as well. Right now, we’re going to a secret military installation. It is one of the central bases for our organization’s operations. Our commanding officer, Admiral Kenneweg, is looking forward to meeting you this evening.”

  Well, it took almost eight hours, but I finally had some information on where we are headed. I spent the next few minutes going over what Floyd said before settling into a thousand mile stare. For the next few hours, I saw nothing but sand and cacti until I noticed what looks like a huge hole in the road up ahead. Is this the Grand Canyon?

  “Umm, Floyd, Uncle Keith, do you guys see that?”

  The hole got bigger as we got closer to it. It’s taking up both lanes of the road and looks as if the road is descending into it. I noticed that there’s one sign on the side of the road a few hundred feet before the ramp opening. The sign is pretty weathered, and all I can read on it is the number “51”. Just then, the woman’s voice that I heard before from my Dad’s message came on.

  “Vehicles 786, 789, 843 acknowledged. Carbon Scan complete. Welcome back, Commander Kreider and Lieutenant Waters.”

  Without adjusting our speed, we drove down the ramp, which led into a separate underground highway system. I looked back to see the ramp we descended down raise up and seal off the hole in the highway on the surface. How is this possible? Are we really beneath the Earth’s surface? And who is this robotic like lady? She seems to be pretty advanced but how did she know that Floyd is in the car?

  I was impressed, confused and scared all at the same time. Aside from a video from my Dad, I’d been given very little information about where we are going and what’s happening. This was the second time I’ve heard this strange woman’s voice and I would like to know who she is. I spoke up again and asked Floyd who she was.

  “Oh, her. She’s not an actual person. Stands for fast-acting-intelligence-technical-hub or something like that. If you stick around with us long enough you’ll get used to hearing her voice.”

  Floyd continued speaking about FAITH but I zoned out as we drove into the interior of some kind of a well-lit parking garage. But how is this all underground? If the architect of this base was going for secretive, they had done a damn good job. You couldn’t see any of this from the surface, or rather you couldn’t see any of the surface from here. Floyd and Uncle Keith didn’t flinch at all and looked very relaxed. My Mom woke up from all of the bright lights.

  “Umm, Uncle Keith, where the heck are we?”

  He turned around and smiled at me.

  “Welcome to the Eye.”

  Chapter Five: Good Choice, Kid

  Huge, building-like structures broke up the parking lot as if we were driving through an underground city. Our small convoy weaved around them and through a maze of parked vehicles before pulling up to one of the structures. Just then, the nearest structure opened up and a group of people came walking out of it.

  I got out of my side of the car and walked around to open my Mom’s door but a large man beat me to it. He didn’t look at me and went straight for my Mom. I quickly noticed light reflect off of his bald head as he helped my Mom get out of the Suburban. He was wearing a black uniform that I have never seen before. It looked like a military jumpsuit and on his left breast pocket, there was a very odd looking piece of insignia. It was a shiny black eagle with what looked like two silver lightning bolts crossed over each other. There was also some writing on the lightning bolts but I couldn’t make out what it said. His uniform also had a circular light orange patch on his left shoulder with some kind of fiery eagle symbol on it. As he stepped into a hug with Mom, I read the name “Heat Devils” across the top of the patch. My focus immediately shifted away from his uniform when he kissed Mom on the cheek.

  “It’s good to see you again, Charlotte. It’s been far too long since your last visit.”

  Mom thanked him for bringing us here. Once again, here was another person that my Mom has clearly met before. And she’s apparently been to this base before too? Forget about my Dad, what has my Mom been hiding from me all these years? Dad’s voice echoed through my head “don’t trust anyone”. I wondered if that included my own mother?

  “Thank you Admiral Kenneweg. It’s good to see you again.”

  “And you must be the famous Trevor Flashman. We’ve heard all about you, son. I’m extremely impressed that you were able to get into Kings Point and I’ve seen several videos of you playing hockey. You can move quite fast out the—”

  Just then, another person came running out of the structure with a manila folder in his hands.

  “Sir! You need to take a look at this immediately!”

  Admiral Kenneweg quickly took the folder and began reading whatever is inside it.

  “Oh, my. I haven’t seen this code called in for almost two years now. Lieutenant, get the team mobilized now! Keith, I know your tour just ended, but I need you on this.”

  “You got it sir.”

  Admiral Kenneweg doled out instructions to the group of people that walked up to the car with him, as well as the man who brought the message to him. He then turned back toward Uncle Keith and Mom as they all rushed back into the structure.

  “Keith, take Charlotte to Trent’s quarters and then get ready to deploy.”

  He then turned and started walking toward the entrance of the structure. Did he forget about me? Where exactly am I supposed to go? Just then, Floyd spoke up.

  “Sir, what about Trevor?”

  He stopped walking and turned only his head slightly.

  “Ahh yes. What about you, son?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. I looked over at Floyd, and was wondering if the Admiral wanted me to respond. His entourage urged him to get into the elevator and he quickly ordered them to wait. He made eye contact with me and then slowly crept toward me while he scratched his chin with his right hand, pondering what to say.

  “Hmmm. Well, Trevor, I imagine you’re confused and not sure what to think right now. That’s completely expected, especially with someone in your position. I won’t get into much detail now since we have a problem on our hands but you’re the product of an outdated policy. The generation clause was ruled out over a decade ago, therefore, you can get right back in that car and go back to the airport, or…”

  He paused and stopped inches from where I’m standing. I don’t consider myself a short person, however, he easily has three inches on me. As he looked down I noticed him searching for something, as if he was waiting for me to run. Maybe he was looking for a sign of doubt, like sweat running off my forehead, or a twitch in my hand. His eyes ran up and down my still body as I replied: “Or what?”

  “Or you can jump in with the basic combat class that began a week ago. You’ll be coming in behind, but I think you can make up the ground. It’s your choice, Trevor. Your father won’t know the difference.”

  Admiral Kenneweg turned around and started walking yet again toward the elevator full of antsy people. Just before he stepped into the elevator, he looked at me.

  “What’ll it be son? I haven’t got all day. Make up your mind now or forever hold your peace.”

  I’d never had to make such a big decision this quickly before with this little information. I barely knew where we were, I didn’t know any of these people or what this place was even for, yet my gut was telling me to go for it. I am not a superstitious guy, but there had to be a reason I’d come all this way. There had to be a reason Dad had lived a secret life for all these years, and now I’m standing here in this underground facility as a result. I’m not the type of person who shies away from a challenge, especially one I know I’ll regret if I don’t accept.

  “I want to join the class.”

 
; A moment of silence followed my confident response. I looked over at Mom and her face was not showing the reaction I’d been hoping for. She looked like she’d just seen a ghost. I knew she was worried about me but I’ll be fine. What’s the worst that can happen? Just then Admiral Kenneweg smiled and stepped into the structure with his impatient subordinates.

  “Good choice, kid. Floyd, Keith, you know what to do.”

  Just before the doors of the structure closed, Admiral Kenneweg winked at me with his left eye. If anything, he seems to be happy with my decision. I wasn’t nervous before, but all of the sudden my stomach knotted up and now I’m second guessing what I just agreed to. I can’t let my mind psych myself out. This was what Dad had believed in, and he’s never steered me wrong before.

  “All right Trevor, say goodbye to your mom. Unfortunately, she can’t come with us this time.”

  Mom and I looked at each other as she walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around me and just like earlier, I could sense that she didn’t want to let go. It’s one thing to lose your husband, but to then watch your son leave… it had to be hard for her. In a way, I was glad she didn’t want me to go because it meant two things. First, that she cared about me and second, that what I was about to embark on meant something. Even in this moment of uncertainty, I’ve found something to hold onto.

  “Promise me you’ll be safe.”

  She put her hands on my cheeks and looked right into my eyes as if this request is the most important thing she’s ever said to me in her life.

  “I promise, Mom.”

  She quickly sniffled and kissed my forehead.

  “Good. Now, go give ‘em hell.”

  I smiled. If there’s one thing my mom is good at, it’s giving pep talks. Throughout my entire life, she’s been the one getting me in the right mindset. From calculus tests to hockey games, I always wanted to hear her voice before I headed into a fight. I was happy that today was no different.