Rise of Aen

by Damian Shishkin

  “Phillips, I know that you don’t like the idea of using civilians or the matter of just grabbing them for experimental purposes, but there’s a storm on the horizon and we are not ready for it.” He was hoping to put her at ease. “I’m not too thrilled about that aspect either, but we’ve got a duty to protect this country and the mandate to use whatever means possible to do it.”

  He shut his door behind him and they made their way to the elevator banks that would take them down to the labs. He could tell that the Major was still mulling things over in her mind and simply waited for her to find the right words to express her feelings. As they reached the elevators, she finally found them.

  “I just find it hard to believe that the suits in Washington would allow us to kidnap and then experiment on civilians, sir.”

  “They want the job done, but they don’t want to know the details on how we do it,” he retorted. “Plausible deniability, Major; if they are ever asked about a project such as ours, the less they know the better for them to say it doesn’t exist.”

  “I see.” The elevator doors closed and the motors hummed as they descended into the lower levels of the facility. Phillips was quiet for a good portion of it, obviously forcing herself to accept her role in the coming tasks. “So if we are to continue on this path,” she finally continued, “Then let me point out the seven subjects that I’ve highlighted in the file I gave you upstairs. It’s the second one that I see some promise in; Subject 54. All medical tests show an increased level of white blood cells that help heal him faster than most; it’s a rare genetic trait that less than one percent of the world’s population possesses. He has a tremendous pain tolerance and employment records show he adapts to change rapidly and learns at an accelerated rate.”

  Taylor reopened the file he had so quickly flipped through earlier and turned to the subject she was referring to. Phillips was right; this subject could be the one that led to success. Everything was there that all the previous volunteers were lacking. The only thing missing was the training and conditioning, but Taylor was positive that that could be instituted during the experiment. A smile flashed on his face momentarily as the door opened to sub-level fifteen and the two walked in unison to the labs. As they passed the specimen cell, Taylor once more looked over at the captive creature inside.

  As the two entered a makeshift boardroom, the gathered scientists all stood and saluted the General. He quickly saluted them back. “At ease. Be seated, men. As you all know, we’ve been mandated with creating a human/alien hybrid soldier, but after four years we’ve failed completely.” He glanced around the room to make sure they all were being attentive. “The project has exhausted all volunteers and a sense of general frustration has settled in with the staff. That is why I’m here, men; I believe the failures are my fault and that my leading from afar has hampered your ability to succeed here.”

  As Taylor expected, the scientists were suck-ups and to a man they all protested the fact that he was taking responsibility for their failures, with the exception of Major Phillips. She stood silent and still beside him. Taylor raised his hand in a gesture of silence and the room grew quiet. “Now, I am here to push you to achieve your best and you all will prove that everything that has occurred to date was just a learning experience. This project will succeed; all of you know what is at stake here.” He tossed the file on the table causing the papers inside to spill out. “Here are the new subjects. Read their files; get to know them and their intricacies. Pay close attention to Subject 54, he may be the one that will accept the bonding process the best. I will give you a two week timeline to secure these assets and bring them here so we can push on to success. Any questions?”

  Silence gripped the room, but Taylor could see them all running the objections in their minds. This project was now pushing the boundaries of most black ops, but those in Washington would always turn a blind eye. He waited for a full minute as no one voiced any questions before continuing.

  “Good, now make sure the extraction teams leave no evidence behind and let’s get these seven subjects in our possession ASAP! Dismissed!”

  The men and women in the room shuffled to their feet and saluted him as they filed out to get to work. With a nod, he dismissed Phillips so she could prep the ops team for the retrievals. Alone in the room, Taylor stepped forward, and with one finger pulled clear the file of Subject 54. He reviewed the thorough data that his Major had collected and smiled briefly again. His eyes then followed the top part of the file where the subject’s name appeared: Foster, Aaron C. This was the primary target and the one he wanted acquired now, and Taylor knew the perfect team to do it.

  Bristol County, Massachusetts

  Things were good in Aaron’s life, the last few days. This morning he awoke to find his wife with her arms draped around him in a slumbering embrace; something that hadn’t happened in years. As he began to stir, Krista opened her eyes slightly and looked up at him with that magical twinkle in her eye that he loved so much. He leaned his head down slightly and gave her a quick kiss, making sure that he avoided grossing her out with morning breath.

  “Hey there.” She said in a sleepy whisper. “Why are you up so early?” Her eyelids struggled to stay open.

  “Figured I’d sneak out to the office this morning, check on what’s been happening.”

  A stern, but playful look came over her. “You are still on holidays and I forbid you from leaving this bed right now to go to work. It will still be there later. Besides, Sara and I are going to Lea’s this afternoon so until we do; your ass is mine!” Her grip tightened and she lay her head down on his chest.

  “Well, I guess I’ll hang out a bit then.”

  “There wasn’t an option there, babe.” He could feel her grinning wildly. “Cause when I wake up, you’ll get a nice reward for sticking around.”

  “Sold!” Aaron replied before getting comfy once more and falling back to sleep.

  Rocky Mountains, Utah –

  Military Installation Code Named White Rock

  As he waited for the Blackhawk to land, General Jensen Taylor had the biggest smile on his face he’d had for years. For the first time since that late night call, he was going to be reunited with his team. He was excited, but remained focused on what he had to ask them.

  Wilson had been promoted to Major after that crazy night, and given command of the unit with Taylor being reassigned. He deserved the accolades; Taylor couldn’t think of a better choice to lead the team other than Avery. He was aggressive, calculated, and thought outside the box—the perfect qualities for the job. In fact, Taylor had watched the team closely since leaving them, and their record was impeccable.

  And now, the best search and rescue team in the Air Force was assigned to his task, although they didn’t know what, as of yet. But he would soon be with his men again, and this was the best news he’d had in years. With a thud, the Blackhawk landed on the rooftop pad and the six men filed out in full gear without hesitation. As soon as they saw their former commander, they sprinted over to him to greet him with enormous smiles. Knowing the wind noise from the mountains combined with the thump of the helicopter rotors would make a discussion impossible, Taylor motioned for them to follow him inside so they could exchange pleasantries.

  “I can’t believe you’re still alive you stubborn old goat!” Major Wilson said as the doors shut behind them. “You all but vanished after that fucked up night in the badlands! How you been General?”

  “Good, Avery. It’s been a lot harder without you and the boys.”

  “Sorry to hear about you and Miri. How you holding up?” Wilson said with a soft tone to his former commander.

  “Don’t give it much thought anymore, to be honest; too much to do. Heard about your mess in Baghdad. Reports were pretty blacked out by the time I read them and I’ve got clearance the president doesn’t.”

  “Ten days of pure hell in hostile territor
y. Not something any of us want to relive any time soon, sir. But enough small talk, why did you bring us to the middle of nowhere to a place that doesn’t exist?”

  Taylor tilted his head towards the elevator. “Conference room is on sub-level eight. Meet me there in ten and I’ll give you a full mission debriefing.” He handed Wilson a swipe card. “It only gets you to where you need to go, Major. Any deviation will get you and the boys killed, so go straight to sub-level eight.”

  Wilson looked carefully at his long-time commander as he digested the seriousness of the general’s tone. “Got it, sir!” he said plainly, then waved his men towards the elevator, without moving himself. Taylor went in the other direction and disappeared through a door at the end of the hall. Avery slowly turned and made his way to join his men, running through the words of the General in his mind. His gut was telling him something was wrong here, but he was ordered to at least listen to the proposal before accepting this job.

  The doors of the elevator slid closed behind him and Wilson swiped the card before pressing the button for sub-level eight. He looked over at his men who nodded in agreement. They trusted Taylor and felt he wouldn’t do anything to put his team in jeopardy, but there was something in this situation that made them uneasy. So Wilson pushed the floor button and the elevator began to descend. His mind began to strategize on multiple scenarios, trying to ready himself on what may come their way. He would be damned if he was going to lead his men into another Baghdad situation!

  —

  “You say it’s just a simple snatch and grab, but to me it seems a hell of a lot more complicated,” Wilson said as he read the subject file in his hands. He closed the file and threw it on the table. “There’s a lot of factors involved here, ones that we normally don’t have to deal with. Taking a civilian and making it look like something different is a whole world that we’ve never had to work with.”

  “Your role is to just secure the subject, Major.” Taylor piped up from the end of the table where he’d sat quietly since giving the mission details. “We will have a whole other team in place to play with the smoke and mirrors.”

  “And the brass is okay with this shit?”

  “Major, I would have spent an entire day of getting the proper clearances in place for you and your men to even be allowed within a hundred miles of this facility if the ‘brass’ gave a shit about how we did things. We have our mandate; they don’t fucking care how we do it!”

  “Sorry, sir!” he stammered slightly. “Don’t know the answer if you don’t ask the question.” Regaining his composure he looked over at his men who all looked a little concerned. “Could you give us a few, I think the boys and I need to discuss this one considering what it involves.”

  “You have five minutes.” Taylor answered with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He left the room and stood outside with the door closed as he marked the time on his watch. Murmurs were all he could hear, with the odd raised voice. Obviously this offer came with challenges to one’s morals and that is where the issue lay. Looking down at his watch, he noted that they had a minute left when he heard the door open.

  “Sir?” It was Everett that was summoning him. Taylor spun around and entered the room.

  “Are we good now, Major?” Taylor inquired, directing his question to the Major in the corner.

  “We’re good, but we don’t want any paper trail on this one. No files, no orders, no recordings.” He said as he pointed at the cameras in the room. “This shit gets erased and we were never fucking here, agreed?”

  “Done!” Taylor looked up at the camera and made a slashing gesture across his throat. “I want a mission plan at ten hundred hours with a list of what you may need. Dial 311 on the phone for the mess hall and they’ll bring you whatever you need. Grub’s excellent here.” He snapped a salute then held his hand out to Wilson who slowly stood and shook his hand.

  “See you at ten hundred hours, sir!” he said as the general left the room. After he was gone for a few minutes he sank back in the chair and exhaled loudly. “I still think we’re walking into a shitstorm boys! That’s not the same man that had our backs years ago!”

  “It’s just a simple grab mission, sir,” Gentry piped up. “Not like we’re snagging the fucking president. He’s just a simple banker!”

  “Yeah,” added Hastings. “Simple and done, we get our fat mission bonus and we never come to creepy castle Taylor again!” The men chuckled at the comment. Hastings was always the joker of the group, but Wilson could tell this time he was using humor to hide his fear.

  “Ok, let’s get to work.” Wilson interrupted. “The file’s full of surveillance so let’s learn the mark’s habits and snatch him when he’s alone.”

  “I’d like to snatch me some of that wifey of his!” laughed Marlin. “Look at the body on that one! Fuck me, I’m sportin’ wood already!”

  Wilson reached over and slapped Marlin across the back of the head, filling the air with a loud smack. “Get your fuckin’ head out of your pants and let’s concentrate on the mission. No mistakes on this one! We’re not riding into the middle of a battlefield; this is gonna be smack dab in the public eye so we gotta become shadows! Unheard! Unseen! Are we clear?”

  They all snapped to attention, sensing the seriousness in the Major’s voice. “Sir, yes sir!” they all replied loudly and they settled in to plan the operation. Wilson allowed each team member to table ideas and had a hand in the planning of each of their missions, which was a stark contrast to the way Taylor set things up himself when he ran the team. This way, Wilson felt, the group felt ownership of the op and when push came to shove they would know why they were doing things. And in this matter, the boys needed absolute clarity because if things went wrong, the shit would hit the fan.

  Bristol County, Massachusetts

  The day was like any other work day for Aaron, filled with appointments with clients for personal and business loan applications. Usually he would go about his day in automatic, but today was different. Today he felt like his whole life was coming together for the first time in a long while. His relationship with his family—while once on shaky ground—was now as sturdy as ever. And now with his personal life no longer struggling, Aaron felt overwhelmed with happiness and excitement that carried over to his professional life.

  All day he had been humming and whistling, with a cheerful smile never leaving his face. As the day sped to a close, he felt anticipation to go home and spend even more time with his family. His after-work schedule was clear; he was all theirs. The steady drum of the late summer rain had all but been ignored as it had been ongoing since mid-morning. Aaron looked towards the parking garage across the street and silently wondered why he didn’t bring an umbrella. Glancing over to the waiting room he could see through his doorway there was still a newspaper left behind, something that was a rarity nowadays. At least I won’t get totally soaked, he thought to himself as he rose to go retrieve it.

  Once the makeshift umbrella was in his possession, Aaron quickly reviewed his appointment log for tomorrow. A few scattered appointments were littered over the course of the day, but otherwise it would be a quiet one. Turning off his computer for the night, Aaron grabbed his coat, briefcase and paper before shutting the lights off and calling it a day.

  “Forget your umbrella again?” the voice behind him hollered as he neared the entrance way. “You’re gonna be soaked by the time you get across the street!” Vince was one of his coworkers and probably the most annoying individual Aaron ever worked with. He would disappear all day only to whine about or make a sarcastic comment when you least expect it.

  Aaron pretended not to hear him as he pushed through the doorway and raised the paper above his head as he exited the bank to walk through the minor deluge. Vehicles roared by on the streets, creating a fine mist that added to the rain as rush hour began. Racing to the corner, he pushed the button on the traffic light to signal that
there was a pedestrian waiting to cross. Time seemed to slow as the light didn’t change for what felt like an eternity. When it did change, Aaron darted across the intersection and into the dryness of the first level of the parking garage.

  Discarding the paper in the trash can, he realized that it helped only a little bit in keeping him dry. He was almost entirely soaked, even his shirt and tie were dripping. Laughing to himself, Aaron shook his hair out and made his way to his car on level three. The parkade was unusually dark, as more than a couple of lights had gone out in various sections. It was also unusually deserted for this time of day; usually it would be a hive of activity around this hour with people leaving work on their way home.

  The door for the stairwell creaked as he pushed it open as the stale air hit him and climbed to the third floor. The stairway was dimly lit as well making him laugh nervously. “I’ve walked into a fucking horror movie or something,” Aaron muttered to himself, trying to make the best of the situation.

  At last, he reached the third level door and opened it, emerging into the concrete maze that housed various vehicles housed throughout the day. From the doorway to the stairs, he could see his car, which was only about twenty feet away, and with it a puzzling sight; it wasn’t empty! Behind the wheel, a man was sitting in the seat dressed identically to Aaron. In fact, the man looked like his twin! He was in shock; his mind raced to comprehend what he was seeing.

  Moving to his side to get a better vantage point at the mysterious man, certain aspects of his face raised alarms deep inside Aaron. The man’s face had an expression of frozen terror on it and was ghostly pale. In fact, Aaron could swear the man was already dead! He tried to get the fellow’s attention by pounding on the hood of the car closest to him and started to yell.

  “Hey!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. “Hey, you’re in the wrong car!”