by B.V. Bayly
Chapter Thirty-Three
Why did Dad hide so much? The floor below Gabriel’s feet rumbled as something came to life under the old wooden boards. A section dropped down several inches then slid to the side to reveal a steel hatch. It released, opening upwards to reveal a dimly lit stairwell leading below the barn floor.
“Good, the batteries are still holding.” Nate barreled down the stairs. The room illuminated with a soft glow as he hit the final step.
Gabriel crept down after him, looking curiously at the floor and the stairs, shocked that they even existed. The room was spacious, despite feeling like a dungeon, with tables along each of the walls and a single large desk in the centre with a small computer terminal on it. Each of the tables were covered in scraps of paper with Calvin’s scribbles and thoughts all over them. Nothing was organized. It was as if he had stepped into a stranger’s mind, rather than his father’s lab. His father was always organized, loved systems and structure. This was chaos. He looked around. This can’t be Dad’s. Random thoughts were everywhere in notes taped to the walls and the ceiling. There was no technology in the room except an old computer. Confusion filled his mind as he wandered around trying to understand what had taken place in this room. This wasn’t a laboratory – this was just a collection of thoughts.
Nate rummaged through pieces of paper and old journals, collecting a small pile of things he needed. It was obvious by the speed of Nate’s movements that he had been in this room before. Gabriel passed the centre desk and mindlessly ran his finger along the computer screen as he looked around the room. A small beep came from the machine, as the screen activated. Underneath some of the papers surrounding the terminal, was a glowing blue screen much like the ones in the elevators at Adin's apartment. Gabriel slid the papers aside and placed his hand onto the rough blue screen. The rough surface became sharp as thousands of small hair-like needles stuck in his hand. The sensation caught him by surprise and he jerked his hand back.
“Ow! What the hell?” The terminal activated.
Nate stared back at him, confused by the new noise in the room. “What did you do?”
“I put my hand on the scanner and it … poked me or something.” He scratched the palm of his hand, trying to stop the lingering sensation.
“Poked you?” Nate mocked him.
“Yes, it poked me.”
“My guess is it’s encrypted. Only your dad would be a match …” Nate headed over to him. “Put your hand on the scanner again.”
Gabriel pressed his hand against the scanner. The strange sensation returned as the rough surface changed, filling every groove in his skin with something. The scanner changed to green and the terminal booted up.
“Well, I’ll be damned … your dad coded you into the system. If you can open this, I’ll bet Adin can too.”
“Why would he do that?” Gabriel stared at the machine.
“No idea.” Nate shook his head and shrugged.
The screen opened up to a series of files, all dated years before his dad’s death. Nate tapped on the first file, opening it to the worried face of Calvin Roberts. A video log.
“I transferred another shipment of ore into the hands of Dr. Osho. I only hope it gets there undiscovered. We have been conducting research to find new ideas of how to charge the ore back up to strength without the loss of human life. The experiments have been unsuccessful at locating a proper specimen. Osho still believes it has something to do with the soul, but I think it lies within the DNA structures of …” The digital voice of Calvin was cut off by Nate pressing another button.
“Hey!” Gabriel frowned.
“Sorry,” Nate explained, “I just need to check something else.”
He waited as Nate navigated the system to several other documents.
“I think this it … it looks like his code.” Nate hit the print button and a printer across the room started to spit out sheets of information.
“Code?”
“Your father developed his own code. There were only three of us who could read it and only your dad could write it. This place was where your dad put all of his secrets – outside of this computer, no electronics. This was his safe house.” Nate headed for the printer on the desk.
As Nate left to collect everything, Gabriel glanced at what he had just printed. There were no words, just a series of symbols, similar but all subtly different. He closed the document and tried to find his way back to the video diaries of his father.
“These are coordinates to some of the secret ore caches your father hid before he formed the IP. There are about seven of them all over the globe, but two are close – I recognize the coordinates,” Nate explained. “Also, some of these journals are written in code – some of his discoveries were never made known. He kept them hidden from Dr. Cymru. Osho needs some of his work to keep our research going.”
Nate put all the journals and papers into his bag. He headed back over to the boxes of files and rummaged through things, discarding what he didn’t want into a large pile of papers in the corner. Gabriel continued to navigate the computer system until he found a file saved two days before his father’s death. Activating the file, he sat there glued to the screen, waiting for his father’s face to appear.
“I fear my finding of the ore was a mistake.” A digital image of his father rubbed at his forehead. “I have been unsuccessful at finding any alternative means to recharging the ore. Dr. Cymru and the others are ignoring my pleas to continue searching for a solution. I am afraid the laws won’t stop their next action.”
The digital Calvin rubbed his eyes and face with both hands, breathing out loudly at the screen.
“Allan has changed drastically. His desire to use the ore to help mankind no longer exists. Our partnership is over. My own actions are now being monitored heavily; Nate has been assigned elsewhere, along with most of my trusted research team. I am uncertain about what may lie ahead. The truth of the ore has remained a secret to the general public and I believe Allan has plans to keep it that way for as long as possible. The IP is still immature in its development and could not confront TERA without dire consequences.
“I feel trapped and I fear for my family daily. I find myself in a position of wishing I was the destroyer of the ore rather than its discoverer. I have been conducting personal research into any means of destroying the black ore safely, rather than leaving it in the hands of those who would do evil with it, but nothing has worked. My only hope lies in the pure white ore that we discovered. While its properties currently evade me, I believe, and hope, my answer will lie with it. However, my research will have to remain on hold for now, as I am being watched so closely by TERA. I pray that my actions carry no fallout for my family and, God willing, my boys will not have to grow up in a world enslaved by this ore.”
The recording stopped, leaving Gabriel to ponder his father’s words. Even Nate had stopped his search and listened to his best friend’s voice from the corner of the small lab.
“Is there anything that can be done to stop Cymru?” Gabriel wondered aloud.
Nate sighed. “It’s why we are still fighting and will keep doing so … TERA hasn’t even begun to show what it’s capable of. I’m afraid that things will only get worse as they gain more control. Right now it’s just about energy and profits.” Nate walked over and patted him on the shoulder. “I miss him too.” He knocked the computer terminal to the ground with a crash.
Gabriel jumped up, shocked. “What are you doing?”
“Unfortunately, we can’t leave anything here.” Nate ripped apart the terminal with the blade of his boot knife, finally prying a small round steel disc out from it. “Here … that’s yours.” Nate tossed the disc to him. “I’m sure you will find some answers there, but right now we need to leave and burn this place.”
Nate finished putting some journals into his bag and tossed the rest of the filing boxes onto the large pile he had made in the corner.
“Why are you doing this? This is all
of Dad’s stuff and –”
Nate cut him off. “Because I can’t leave anything for Cymru to find … he can read the code as well as I can … everything in this office has to be destroyed. It’s too dangerous to leave it hidden here. They would eventually find it. We got what we need and Dr. Osho has the rest of the research. It’s just what needs to happen.”
He nodded, understanding Nate’s point. If Cymru ever found this place and resurrected any of the data stored there the IP would be completely exposed as an enemy, but he still felt torn. This was a piece of his father; these were his thoughts, his deepest secrets. He longed to know more. He needed to find answers about why his father made these decisions.
Nate slammed a flare on the table, lighting up the room with a red glow. He threw the flare into the pile of papers. The fire built up quickly.
“It’s time to leave.” Nate pushed him towards the stairs. “The room will soon release a gas and ignite everything.”
As he left the office, he allowed himself one more glance at his father’s private world. The answers he searched for were now lost in black smoke. The questions remained. When they reached the SUV, just outside the barn, he looked around. “There’s nothing left here for me.”
“Another day, there will be.” Nate opened the door to the SUV. “This is still our – Gabriel, don’t move!”
A loud shot rang out and a blaze of light hit the ground beside them. Nate raced over to him, drawing a pistol, and scanning the direction from where the shot came.
“They missed!” Gabriel reached for the optics on the front dash of the SUV to see who was out there.
“No, they didn’t. They’re letting us know that they can kill us if they want to. It looks like they just arrived – the SUV should still be good.” Nate kept both his hands on his gun.
“Welcome home!” a loud, distorted voice called out from beyond the rubble of the house. A man in a black suit with a trilby hat pulled down low across his brow strolled towards them. He kicked through the rubble with no respect and stepped on anything that would break.
“Quite the mess!” His voice rasped, as if it had been stripped of its harmony.
The stranger leaned down and picked up a broken dish, examining it for a moment, then threw it to the side, shattering what remained. As the man in the suit neared them, Gabriel held up the optics and could see his disfigured appearance. Despite the trilby hat, the face of the stranger was still visible. Blackened, calloused skin covered the whole left side of his face, including his eye. The sharp features of his face were sharpened even further by the grotesque skin that clung tightly to the bones. It was as if it had been burnt over and over and had never had a chance to heal. Streaks of blackened veins under the pale skin covered the right side of his body, giving him a tiger-like appearance. Even his hands were different from each other – one was as black as his suit, the other looked normal, with an expensive watch hanging loosely around his wrist.
Setting down the optics, Gabriel watched in terror as a group of rough looking gunmen stepped out from the rubble around them. They looked like street thugs, sauntering left and right over the area until they took their final positions surrounding him and Nate. Their rifles were at the ready. Two men leaned against some rubble on the left wall of the house, three more moved around the back of the vehicle near an over-turned tractor, and the last stood lazily beside the man in the black suit.
“Gabriel … did you think I would forget about you?” The strange man cackled, his voice was as damaged as the rest of his body.
“Stay calm,” Nate whispered to him.
“Caught like rats in a trap, aren’t we? And in such a pitiful place.” The disfigured man waved a disparaging hand at the ruins. “Needs a bit of cleaning.”
“What do you want?” Gabriel yelled, locking eyes with the stranger.
“What everyone wants – the lab.” The man revealed a set of shiny black teeth behind his wicked smile.
“Keep him talking …” Nate whispered. He inched closer to the door of the vehicle.
“You seem to know an awful lot about something that was a secret.” Gabriel called out to the disfigured man, stepping in front of Nate. The crystal in his chest surged with energy, waiting to be released.
“No more secrets! No more lies!” The man pulled his hat down tightly, as if there was a fight inside his own head. “He hid it! I should have been told! It’s mine!”
“Who are you?” Gabriel wondered what horrors might have happened to him.
“You should know.” The disfigured man laughed with a high-pitched cackle. “I am your death!” He gave the signal for his troops to move in. “Take them alive!”
Two shots blazed out over Gabriel’s shoulder. Nate had aimed for the only intact power cell still left on a broken wall of the house. The high velocity round punctured the cell, spraying its blue acidic contents high into the air and over the two thugs positioned there. The acid instantly ate into their armor and weapons. Within seconds the men were screaming in pain, dropping their weapons and attempting to flee from the acid, their clothes billowing in white smoke.
“Open fire!” The disfigured man screamed. The thug nearest to him fired on Gabriel.
Gabriel raised his hands and a luminous bubble filled the space in front of the SUV, absorbing the impact of the shells. It held strong as his hands rose and spread apart, glowing in sleeves of pure energy that produced a fluid-like wall of light. He glanced over his shoulder to see Nate aiming for the thugs behind them. His accurate shots punched through the chest of one of them, a cloud of red blood bursting from his back. The other two scrambled for cover, retreating. Gabriel kept his focus – his shield was impenetrable. He watched as more men came in from the road.
The man in black ripped a half-broken wall free from the rubble and hurled it at Gabriel. The large piece of wood and old drywall shattered against the shield. Gabriel stumbled back, surprised by the show of strength. He kept up the shield and moved towards the SUV as Nate spun it around to make an escape. The passenger door hung open to him and Nate yelled for him to get in.
Before Gabriel could get in the SUV, a deafening crack rang out in Gabriel’s ears. The fluid-like surface of his shield hardened as cracks spread across its surface. He froze. The ore in his chest struggled as the disfigured man approached Gabriel and crashed his smoking fist through the shield. The sound of breaking glass filled the air, and the shattered shield broke into fragments of light.
Bolts of light filled the air as the thugs fired their weapons at the SUV, filling the back with holes from each shot. The disfigured man attacked Gabriel. He tried to block the incoming strikes, but each hit was like a baseball bat striking against his forearms. Pain seared through him as he came in contact with the disfigured man’s black, smoking fists. Without thinking the ore surged through his body, sending streams of light rushing down around his hands and arms. The next strike was painless, bouncing off his forearm as he went on the offensive. The man in black was fast, dodging each attack as he moved backwards. He was too fast for Gabriel to hit.
His blackened teeth glinted as he grinned at Gabriel, circling him like an animal patiently waiting to kill its prey. Black smoke rose from every part of him, blurring his image as he moved back and forth. He closed the gap between them in a rush of dark mist. Gabriel’s jaw wrenched sideways as he was struck across the face. Another hit rattled against his ribs, as the disfigured man’s arm blurred with speed. He fell backwards to the ground and stared up at his attacker. The white ore in his chest raged like a fire, burning a hole through his shirt, flooding his limbs and chest with white light. The disfigured man halted his attack and, as if mesmerized by the crystal, he stepped back from Gabriel.
“You …” His eyes focused on the shard as if he struggled against an invisible force. He put both of his hands against his face, pressing tightly against his skull as if in immense pain. A ragged scream burst from him.
Just then a helicopter came in overhead, hover
ing low to the ground, sending dust and debris everywhere. Soldiers descended on ropes just beyond the debris of the house, and shots from heavy caliber weapons targeted the thugs. The man in black glared at Gabriel, then disappeared in a blur of smoke towards the helicopter. Screams rang out in the air and sprays of bullets erupted from both sides. Nate yelled at Gabriel to get in the SUV. He watched in terror as the man in black attacked the soldiers like a rabid animal – tearing one of them apart with his bare hands. Gabriel lunged for the passenger door, and Nate floored it. The SUV swerved all over the yard, trying to get back to the old road. Gabriel twisted to look behind them. The scene played out like a war with men on each side dropping as bullets slammed into their bodies.
