by Jeff DeMarco
Petersen turned, looked him in the eyes. “And now that you’ve seen what she is, what she’s done and can do, you’re not so sure…”
Blanco stood, silent.
“She’s a snake, Commander. A wolf in sheepskin.”
“This isn’t a world of rules anymore.” He walked slowly, back around the desk. “Wolf or not, the victor writes history.”
“So that’s who you are?” Petersen looked down his nose at him. “Corrupt. A winner at any cost.”
The assessment stung at Blanco. “What would you have me do then? Kill her? Wind up in shackles like you?”
“I’d have you follow your moral compass, Commander, if you have one.”
Blanco slumped into the chair. “Whatever all of this is, it’s not God’s will.” His words sagged with his body. “Never been more ashamed to call myself a Christian.”
“This is what you signed up for. You just didn’t know it, and neither did I.” Petersen let out a sigh. “President Kreuson, General Nichols, Me… Likely we’re all part wrong, all part right. We’ve all compromised ourselves to such an end that none are worthy to lead, but we must. One of us anyhow.”
Blanco stared, a glazed look in his eye.
“I won’t tell you to follow me.” Petersen reached across the table, poked his finger against Blanco’s chest plate. “That little voice inside you. If it tells you I’m wrong, if it tells you to shoot me dead where I sit… so be it.”
Blanco shot him an odd look. “If this is some reverse psychology…”
“It’s not.” Petersen smiled. “We all have that moment where we need to pick a side and go with it. This is yours.”
Commander Blanco walked from the room.
A concerned look broke through Alpha 1’s façade. “Satisfied?”
Blanco took him by the arm, away from the guard. “Who’s on our side?”
Alpha 1’s eyes widened. “His men.”
“And General Nichols?”
Alpha 1 shrugged. “Depends which side you’re on.”
“Any other operatives?”
Alpha 1 shook his head.
Blanco raised his rifle, fired two shots. Alpha 3 laid dead on the floor. He searched the body.
“Looking for this?” Alpha 1 dangled a key from his finger.
Blanco grabbed it, rushed inside the room.
“Made your mind up then?” Petersen asked.
“Not even close.” Blanco unshackled Petersen’s hands. “It’s a process of elimination.”
Petersen rubbed the raw skin on his wrists.
“Get your men.” He grabbed Petersen under the arm. “Fight’s coming.”
“Wait.” Petersen sat back down. “I’m gonna kick myself for saying this, but we need both of them here. The President and my brother.”
“You’re sure, Sir?”
Alpha 1 walked into the room. “We gonna do this, or what?”
“Hold on a second,” Blanco said.
“He has technology, that if it were to see the light of day…” Petersen shook his head. “The hunters are just the start.”
“You knew?” Blanco yelled. “God’s sake, I just shot a man.”
“I didn’t know…” Petersen said. “Not that he’d release it all over the world. Just a ballpark idea of what goes on in that facility of his... He’s the real threat.”
Blanco rubbed his eyes. “What then, we wait?”
“No.” A plan spun quickly in Petersen’s mind. “Take her prisoner, tell General Nichols, use both of us as bait. There’s no way my brother will come himself, but he won’t be far away. When they come, Blanco, you hunt him down, kill him.”
Commander Blanco walked into the office, Alpha 1 in tow. “We’re going to detain the President.”
General Nichols choked on his coffee. “You’re what?”
“No time to explain,” Blanco said. “Confirmed, she’s the head of The Order. We’ll use her, and Petersen as bait.”
“This is a Coup d’état, fellas.” Nichols put his hands on his hips. “You’re sure we’re doing this?”
“We’re not doing anything,” Blanco said. “My team can handle it. You’ll just get in the way.”
Nichols eyes narrowed on him. “It sounded like you just gave a Lieutenant General an order, commander.”
“Ready your Soldiers for Battle, Sir.” Blanco turned to leave. “I’ll let you know when they’re coming.”
CHAPTER 62
“Frag out!” Blanco threw a flash bang grenade into the main entrance. The guard, stunned, took two bullets in the chest and one in the head.
Blanco motioned ‘forward,’ the team breeched the entrance.
“Pop, pop, pop.” Shots fired from a concealed position at the end of the hall.
They ducked into rooms at either side of the hallway. “Thump” the squad leader fired high explosive from his M203 grenade launcher, followed by a ‘BOOM!’
Glass shattered in multiple rooms, a sniper engaging targets from an adjacent rooftop. “Targets eliminated,” came across the radio.
They moved as one down the hall, kicked the door down. The point man fired two shots into Alpha 4’s chest, as they piled in the room; two SEALs posting guard at the doorway.
“Come out of there!” Blanco grabbed President Kreuson from under her desk.
Alpha 1 pulled a role of duct tape from his cargo pocket, a wide grin on his face.
“He’s one of…” Tape pressed across her face. “mmmm mm mmmm.”
Blanco put a black hood over her head, zip tied her hands behind her back.
“I’m not gonna miss the sound of your voice,” Alpha 1 whispered.
‘Clunk,’ a pistol dropped onto the floor of the hallway. Two hands stuck out from the doorframe. “I’m coming out, don’t shoot!”
Alpha 1 poked his head out from the President’s office. “Buddy!”
Alpha 4 smiled, then walked up to him; his hands raised in the air.
Alpha 1 walked to him, as if to embrace. He reared back, slamming his forehead into Alpha 4’s.
He dropped like a rock.
“Sorry, buddy.” He rubbed the pain in his head. “Wouldn’t want you trying anything stupid.”
“You know it’s a trap,” Demetri said. “Right?”
“I figured as much.” Petersen pried the metal bunker door open, slightly off kilter since being ripped from its hinges. “That’s why I’m not going.”
Demetri held Julie’s arm. “Forsaken me,” he whispered to himself. “Why’s that?”
“I’ll be there, looking on; communicating with you, seeing what you see. I just won’t physically be there.”
A prickly sensation crept up Demetri’s spine, a familiar sense of loneliness.
“You’ll have Julie there with you.” Petersen pushed the button for level 5. “After some alterations.”
Julie stared silently as she had been for the last six hours, a mix of fear and anxiety. The thought, ‘what the hell are you about to do to me?’
Petersen smiled at her. “It’ll be painless, really. We just need you back on our side.”
Her eyes rolled. ‘Our side,’ she thought.
They turned right off the elevator, a sign posted on the concrete wall, ‘Bioengineering – Left. Nanorobotics – Right. They turned right, walked halfway down the wing and into a door marked ‘Authorized Personnel Only,’ in big red letters. Petersen slid his keycard through the reader and the door clicked open.
“Julie is it?” The old man spoke with a Chinese accent. Seated at a laboratory desk, surrounded by equipment she’d never seen before. “I hear you’ve caused quite a stir.”
“She can’t talk, Dr. Zhu,” Petersen whispered and pointed to her neck.
“Ah yes… The collar.” His smile friendly. “After you’re done, you won’t be needing that barbaric thing anymore. If you wouldn’t mind holding your arm out.”
She extended her arm, reluctantly.
Dr. Zhu’s hands shook as he tied the rubber tourni
quet around her arm. They shook as he felt for a vein and then as he took the needle, now slowly approaching her arm. “It’s been a while…” He spun in his chair. “Nurse, could you take care of this for me?”
A large black woman approached. “Sure thing, Sugar.” Her smile at Julie, endearing, motherly. “You remember me? Your nurse, Anita?”
Julie broke a coy smile, looked down; the sudden feeling of home hit her.
“Little pinch,” Anita whispered, initiating a saline lock on Julie’s arm. “I’ve missed all of you kids so much.” She pulled the needle out of the catheter. “Should have never let you go.” She connected the saline bag and started the IV drip.
Julie was blushing now, as Dr. Zhu connected a large syringe to the port; filled with a grey substance. “You’ll feel off for an hour or so. It’s the nanites fixing themselves to your nervous system.” He pushed the plunger in, a shooting pain went up her arm.
She resisted the urge, simply to say “Ouch.”
“You’ll feel different, think different.” He pulled the saline lock from her arm and applied a band aid. “You’ll notice some structures develop on your skin. Transmitters, resonance amplifiers… armor. New structures will form alongside your muscles, strengthening them; making you faster, stronger.” He opened a bottle and handed it to her. “Silicone and some other mineral elements… I’ll warn you, it doesn’t taste good.”
She eyed Dr. Zhu, then downed the concoction.
He lifted the back of her hair up, a lump starting to form at the back of her neck, just above the collar. “It’s fine,” he whispered to Petersen. “You can take the collar off now.”
“Now, Demetri,” Petersen said, as he disarmed the collar.
“See how it goes with her, first.” Zhu held his hands up. “Make the decision in a few days.”
“We don’t have a few days,” Petersen whispered.
Zhu pursed his lips, then threw his hands in the air. “All the same.” He handed Petersen a tablet. “Just like any other of them. She has a bit more autonomy, but you can override any action, or… terminate the subject if need be.”
Petersen glared at Julie with a grave look in his eyes. “Hear that?”
She nodded, still afraid to speak.
“You can talk now.” Petersen smiled. “So many damn controllers.” He stuffed it in his cargo pocket along with the one to Demetri’s collar. “And keys too… Like I’m a damn high school janitor.”
Silence.
He looked around the room, his hand rapped compulsively against his thigh. “It’s a…” the realization that his joke had failed miserably. “… Nevermind. Dr., what’re we looking at for capabilities?”
“Remains to be seen. The Nanites are programmed to improve strength and speed, regeneration capability, kinetic and telekinetic defense… With her abilities, your guess is as good as mine.”
Even now, she could feel them inside her, some latching on to her spine, others in the lining of her stomach, processing the contents of the slurry she had consumed; weaving reinforcing strands between her muscles and tissues. A tickle on the back of her neck, the first of many implants that would appear on her skin. “What’s happening to me?” She felt out of control, simply standing. As if the core of her being was fading away. Her senses heightened, as she ran her hands along her arms. “I’m not… me.”
“Quite the contrary.” Dr. Zhu smiled. “You are who you have always been. Just a better ‘you’ now.”
She felt her eyes vibrating, she focused in, the capillaries of Dr. Zhu’s nose immediately visible to her, the pumping of blood through them. “I don’t like this.”
Dr. Zhu stood, steadied himself on a table and walked to her. “It’s like being born,” he whispered. “Like the painful shock of light, hitting your eyes for the first time.”
“No!” She swiped the glassware off the table, sending shards spraying across the floor. “I don’t want this!”
“Demetri!” Petersen said, fumbling for the controller.
He grabbed her from behind, her arms restrained in a bearhug.
She kicked off the floor, then the table, sending them into a wall.
“Colonel,” Dr. Zhu said, grabbing it from him. He pressed a button on top, the tablet loaded.
She spun, driving her fists into Demetri’s chest, then face, then abdomen.
He grabbed for her, her wrist yanked from his grasp each time, the wind knocked out of him with each blow. He curled, his head covered in a fetal position on the floor, as she bolted from the room.
“Wait.” Dr. Zhu restrained Petersen by the arm, still fiddling with the touchscreen. “Ah!” He hit a button prompting the command ‘halt.’ He looked at Petersen. “Go.”
Petersen rushed from the room. She stood there, statuesque at the end of the hallway. Demetri ran to meet him.
Petersen tipped her back, carrying her like a plank of wood. “Put her in confinement.” He handed her to Demetri.
“My old room?” He threw her over his shoulder.
“That’s fine,” Petersen said. “You can take a room on level 6.”
Demetri walked along the brightly lit corridor, sensing the shadows of children running the hallways. “What is this place?”
“The others.” Petersen walked ahead of him. “Where they grew up together.”
Demetri stopped, a sudden emptiness in seeing the colorful walls, the pictures, names scribbled in crayon.
“They were forced here,” Petersen said. “Their mothers executed when they were young. Flynn’s orders.”
He let out a painful sigh, as his world grew, then collapsed on itself. “Why?”
Petersen cocked his head, confused.
“I was left alone in that room….” He ran his hand along the walls. “To rot.”
“Demetri, I-“
“Years ago, I reached a breaking point.” He held up the back of his hands. “It started with punching the walls.” He parted his hair, a thick scar ran along his scalp. “Then ramming it.”
“It was Flynn that let you rot.” Petersen put his hand on Demetri’s shoulder. “I didn’t even know you were-“
“It’s not that.” Demetri closed his eyes, shook his head. “I’m not angry, not upset… I’m lost, alone. I’ve missed everything, my whole life.”
Petersen wrapped his arms around the boy.
“I’ve never even seen her face,” he sobbed. “I’ve had no one, nothing.”
Petersen hugged him tighter. “It’s not too late,” he whispered.
“For what?”
“Live a life you’re proud of.” Petersen smiled at him. “Find some happiness in life. We’re going to make it out of this… we’re going to win and that starts with you. And there’s a girl down there, in the same position as you were – hopeless, scared, unsure.” He patted the boy on the back. “Understand what I’m getting at?”
Demetri shook his head.
Petersen sighed. “People like us… we’re best suited to a life of service. It gives you purpose. Help her… understand. Just help her.”
CHAPTER 63
Julie awoke, her arms restrained, staring at a yellow light in the ceiling. “Where am I?”
“My old room,” Demetri whispered.
Her eyes shot towards him.
“Relax.” He edged his chair closer to her. “You’re safe… You went a little crazy.”
She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry about that.”
He picked up a bowl, dipped a spoon in and lifted it to her mouth.
A slight gag at the taste. “It’s cold. How long have you been sitting there?”
He blushed slightly. “A while.” He took the spoon, focusing energy into it until it boiled. “It’s no problem though, I spent 20 years in here… just waiting. You feeling better?”
“My God,” she whispered. “20 years? How’d you not go crazy?” She took another spoonful of hot soup. “And I’m ok, I guess. Still don’t feel like me.”
“Flynn used to bring me books
.”
She looked down at the edges of the tiny cell, the small single window and port hole.
“I’m going to remove your restraints. So long as you promise not to beat the crap out of me again.”
“Promise.” She smiled at him. “You miss him?”
“Sometimes.” He unclasped her right hand. “Besides books, I learned most everything I know from him.” He moved to her left hand. “But he kept me in here to die a slow death, out of fear. Until Colonel Petersen came, I hadn’t seen the sun.”
Her face recoiled.
“What?” He studied her eyes. “He’s a good man.”
She squinted at him. “Ever been inside his head?”
He shook his head. “The one promise he made me make.”
“Try it out sometime.” Her lips pursed. “Might be surprised what you find.”
“You need to learn to trust. I didn’t need to read your mind to know you wouldn’t attack me again.”
“How do you know?” An edge to her voice. She sat up on the bed, swung her legs over the side.
“I don’t.” He smiled at her. “But I have faith.”
She smiled back, rolled her eyes.
“You’ll follow us, then? Fight with us?”
“You’re very… charming.” Her eyes flirted with his. “And I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
His face turned a darker shade of red. “I am asking, aren’t I?”
Her smile, smitten.
“We leave in an hour.” He smiled back, briefly. His eyes hardened, his mouth flat. “A war is coming.”
Her smile grew wider. “I know.”
“Cole!” Jacob called out into the void.
He appeared at once, his eyes wide with shock and fear. “I thought you’d abandoned us!”
He focused on him, a genuine concern in his eyes. “What happened?”
“I don’t know…” His voice raced and trembled. “We had lost contact with everyone to the east, and hadn’t heard from you, and they’ve taken Julie, and Brie is… well she’s abandoned us… It’s just me now. I’m holding on as best I can and – “
