The Final Option

by Kyle Robertson

  “You're not coming back,” Ron said. “You know what power I hold in my hands, and you still won't reconsider.”

  Owen knew what Ron had to do. He also knew it would disturb Ron to murder Geogyn. It was a tense moment. Sadly, his friend had to make the decision.

  “Ron, are you sure about this?” Owen asked.

  Ron began punching in a code on the detonator, and said, “This has to be done, Owen. Would you want to deal with Geogyn not being an ally, but an enemy?”

  Ron finished the code, and a flashing ‘execute’ light began to beep.

  “Goodbye, Geogyn Kai,” Ron said farewell and pressed the button.

  Owen expected to see Geogyn convulse, wretch, and slump over in death. Those things didn't happen. He knew Ron had pressed the button. He heard the confirmation beep of a successful detonation. It happened, just not in the way he expected. He began to feel nervous about having no terminal result for Geogyn, especially when he was told he would be murdered. It was a promise that didn't work. Owen began to shift uneasily in his stance.

  “I am trying to save your life, Ron,” Geogyn said darkly. “Yet, you try to end mine?”

  Ron clicked the button again, desperately waiting for Geogyn to die. His disposition sank into blackness.

  “Oh, don't be that vexed, Ron. Your instrument of death worked flawlessly. It just isn't in my heart anymore,” he told a confused Ron.

  Geogyn turned the camera to a glass dish. The bomb was in it. It swam in its own acid, smoking, and being eaten away.

  “How did…” Ron started.

  Geogyn turned the camera back to him. “Do you believe the harbinger of Armageddon could be halted by you?” Geogyn interrupted him. “This is inevitable.”

  Ron knew he had to make the toughest decision of his career. He had to call a nuclear strike on Geogyn's location to obliterate him, and whatever radical cult he was newly affiliated with. Many people would die, and those who didn't would be afflicted with disease for the rest of their shortened lives. The vegetation would be irradiated for decades. He had to stop evil with evil.

  Ron remained quiet as he walked behind a podium and activated a hidden computer screen. He began punching in numbers on the keyboard.

  “Ron, what are you doing?!” Owen asked in an audacious whisper.

  Ron didn't respond. He just kept entering in codes to the computer.

  Owen walked up to Ron and peered over his shoulder. He saw Ron executing the order for destruction. He involuntarily gasped at the action. He knew the result and insurmountable weight of this decision. He began to realize he couldn't handle the responsibility Ron had. Although Owen was appalled with his action, he was silently gracious he wasn’t in his friend‘s shoes.

  Geogyn broke the silence. “Please understand the reasons for my actions. They were designed since my creation. I had to come to terms with my station on this planet. I will rid this world of the astray. It is my destiny. I don't want to be your enemy. Release your barbaric intent, and conform to common sense.”

  Ron ignored Geogyn, and hit the enter key. A florescent green light scanned his eyes. When his retinal scan was confirmed, twenty missiles of a submarine fleet in the Pacific activated with a howling, pulsating, warning sound. The submarines activated and launched their deadly payload to destroy an unsuspecting part of Nicaragua.

  “I am conforming to common sense,” Ron finally answered Geogyn. “Common sense states I don’t bow down to a megalomaniac cult, and sacrifice this world on the say-so of a delusional traitor.”

  Geogyn saw the determination and disgust across Ron's face, through a screen Val-Koorin produced for him. He knew he couldn’t change his mind.

  “I am sorry your perception of common sense is tainted with prejudice abstinence.” Geogyn knew his attempts at rescue was abortive at this point.

  “You are too dangerous to be allowed to live, Geo,” Ron retorted. “When you were on the right side, the patriotic side, you were an invaluable asset. Now that you’re on the wrong side, the anarchical side, you are the most disruptive force ever discovered. For the good of the Earth, you cannot live.”

  “It is because of the good of the Earth I must live,” Geogyn corrected Ron. “As devastating as this immediate situation is, there will be Rapture.”

  “I have full confidence in saying, there will be no Rapture because there will be no Armageddon,” Ron said, as he flipped a switch to cut communication with Geogyn. “Not on my watch.”

  Geogyn's green light illuminating from his pen camera showed red to accent communications were abruptly cut, and the screen went blank. He sighed, knowing his rescue attempt had failed.

  “I believe you have your answer,” Val-Koorin snapped his despair.

  Geogyn turned to Val-Koorin with a saddened look. He knew he would have to obliterate Ron from existence. Only he would have a memory of him.

  “Yes, I have my answer,” Geogyn repeated.

  “You should have no doubts or regrets,” Val-Koorin continued with shocking news to Geogyn. “The men you were trying to save have sent twenty Dreadnought intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles at you. The blast radius of one has a four hundred square mile devastation factor not counting fallout.”

  

  Owen saw Ron cut communications. He was irked at him. Ron had a satisfied look on his face about his decision. He turned to look at Owen. When he saw the disgusted look on Owen's face, his smile dissolved, and confusion took its place.

  “What?” Ron asked Owen.

  “I thought you were bluffing to get Geogyn to tell you his reason. You son of a bitch. You did it.”

  Ron was surprised at Owen. He never questioned him before. He thought he knew him well, but his recent reactions to this situation told him he didn't know him at all.

  “I guess you would have wanted the grim reaper that haunts your dreams to run free, arbitrarily killing whoever he deems a threat?” he asked Owen. “You know he can kill peremptorily. You should be happy I neutralized this weapon!”

  “We might not have had to go this far if you would’ve asked him why! What was the reasoning for his actions! He asked, begged you to understand! You at least owed him that courtesy! You didn't want to listen to him. You just wanted your precious weapon back! Since you couldn't retrieve him, you just wanted to blow the shit out of Central America so no one else could have him!” Owen exploded. “Now I have to run damage control, so we can save some type of face!”

  “Screw saving face, Owen! I did this to save lives!” Ron lashed back. “You know what he can do when he has his mind set for a mission. He won’t stop! It’s as if he can’t stop! Now, unleashing that juggernaut on an unsuspecting planet is a chilling thought! I didn't care about his reasoning! Just knowing his intention is enough. I had an opportunity to destroy an evil that could devastate the Earth, so I took it!”

  Owen calmed down to explain his skepticism to Ron. “One man can’t destroy the Earth's people. Even six point five billion murders are unfathomable for one man.”

  “He may be one, but he is not a man,” Ron answered Owen's doubts with foreboding veracity. “We don't know what he is. We don't know where he came from. All we knew was if there was an impossible problem that needed to be corrected, we could activate The Final Option. Even Ghost Alpha was squad decoration to justify the monies spent on them. Geo needed no help. It was beautiful if it wasn't so bloodcurdling. Since we don’t control him anymore, it has definitely become bloodcurdling. We know what he can do, but what we have yet to discover of his skills is what scares the shit out of me.”

  Owen was quiet for a second. He saw the concern drenched across Ron’s face. He saw the fear. He finally understood his actions were based on future results of the unknown. If you don‘t understand it, kill it. The government way.

  “This argument is irrelevant. I have to get on the phone to quell this predetermined firestorm,” Owen said as he pulled out his cell phone.

  “Are you all right with my decision?
” Ron asked Owen.

  “At this point, I really don't care, Ron,” Owen answered. “Let's just say, I understand.”

  ~~~

  Geogyn wasn’t concerned about the imminent destruction of the mountain range. He was more disappointed with Ron for trying to seal his fate without listening to reason. By sending this nuclear strike, he sealed his fate instead.

  “You should prepare for your quest,” Val-Koorin instructed Geogyn. “You are prepared physically. Your mind has to be at peace to continue.”

  “I know I have to cleanse the Earth of the undeserving, but wiping out Nicaragua will compromise the environment as well when the missiles hit.” Geogyn turned to Val-Koorin with burdened tenseness.

  “You still think mortals can deter my intentions.” Val-Koorin was amazed at him. “And I thought your faith would be the purest. Witness what these humans call a miracle.”

  

  Ron and Owen were tracking the missiles on the large screen with a radar. They saw the twenty missiles head at breakneck speed towards the Marrabios mountain range. They were seven miles to detonation when they radically banked west and headed deeper into the Pacific Ocean.

  Ron was shockingly surprised at their abrupt derailment. “What the?!” he exclaimed. “What's going on? Where are they headed?”

  Owen had a secret satisfaction in his mind. “They must have overridden their course. With their altitude dropping so quickly, I'd say they were going into the drink, Ron.”

  “Impossible!” Ron yelled at the screen. “Their course is predicated by a two hundred digit, alternating code! Even a supercomputer can’t crack it in thirteen minutes!”

  Owen leaned closer to Ron, and said with a low, confidential-like tone, “Well, I guess whatever turned Geogyn has more power than we ever expected.”

  Ron saw the radar’s representations of his missiles stop lighting and beeping as the real ones plunged into the ocean. “We just told Geo we were going to kill him, and didn’t execute. He’s going to retaliate, and it won’t be pretty,” he said.

  “Don't get it muddled Ron,” Owen said. “YOU told him you were going to kill him. I had NOTHING to do with it.”

  “Do you think he's gonna split hairs when he's on a mission to destroy us? I think not! Face it. You're a dead man because of association.”

  Owen knew Ron was right. Although he was an observer, he didn’t try to stop him.

  “Get Chet on the phone,” Ron told Owen. “Let’s hope to God those prototypes are close to completion. Throw the whole budget at him to speed up the process. It’s time to cover our ass.”

  Owen dialed his phone. “You better hope the lack of money is what is impeding progress,” Owen warned.

  Ron was still looking at where his missiles disappeared into the Pacific. “I am, Owen. I am.”

  Chapter Nine: Judges 18:5

  Geogyn was in a darkened room near the upper side of the dormant volcano. He was meditating to clear his thoughts. He had to empty his mind of all the negative influences tainting him. He had to be pure in cognition to begin his journey. It took time to purge all the atrocious images he witnessed in the short time he was the government‘s pet.

  The sounds of a waterfall poured in his ears to help ease him. A thread of sunlight found its way into the room from a slivered crack above him. The sunlight danced in the room without a partner. It was alone in its ambiance. The comfort of the natural light was another elemental aid. He attuned his attention to appreciating nature. Having respect for the mother, and all the efficacy being squandered by power-hungry humans was the catalyst of his purity. He was ready.

  Geogyn walked from the room to an area with much activity. It was a staging area for the Lord Order. They were preparing for another mission. What was defined in most cultures as a household massacre was called a scholar extrication? They were preparing as Geogyn walked in.

  General Oswalt saw Geogyn enter the staging area. He knew who he was, but wasn't pleased with his method of initiation.

  “You killed a lot of my men, Horseman!” he yelled to Geogyn over his comrade’s commotion.

  The area became silent. The soldiers focused their attention on Geogyn. He locked gazes with Oswalt.

  “They killed all of my men. At least you have colleagues to share war stories with. I don't have that privilege,” Geogyn answered. “You also have the pleasure of knowing me. Now, who are you, and what makes you important enough to remember?”

  The soldiers shifted their attention to the general. “I'm Dale Oswalt, and the reason for my importance is I am the leader of the Lord Order. You're destroying the immoral to create Utopia, I'm saving the virtuous. I'm your proverbial Yin… Yang.”

  “They aren't blameless before they are emancipated from Armageddon,” a heavy voice filled the area. It was Val-Koorin. “They have to go through a mental cleanse before they can become tutors. Only then can Utopia become a certainty.”

  General Oswalt walked towards Geogyn. The soldiers began to murmur and shift in anticipation of a scuffle. They knew General Oswalt didn't take lip from anyone. It was about to get bloody.

  Geogyn watched General Oswalt walk closer to him. He and Val-Koorin said nothing as Oswalt stopped a foot away from Geogyn. He rolled his shoulders, and squeezed his hands into a fist.

  “I guess we are kinsmen now.” Oswalt shocked his comrades. He held his hand out to Geogyn, and said, “I‘ve learned not to let things fester. Grudges only damage the person who harbors them. Our quest is much larger than my anger. We can’t afford trivial emotions, so I won’t be a part of it. I am proud to be your Yin.”

  Geogyn looked in Oswalt’s eyes and saw his sincerity. He tracked down to his outstretched hand and remembered what he meditated for.

  He grabbed Oswalt’s forearm to solidify their link. It showed Oswalt an agreement deeper than a handshake.

  “In Chinese philosophy, yin is virtue while yang is disruption. We are kindred,” Geogyn repeated. “We both have lost many, but as Val-Koorin said, their souls are eternal.”

  “Now that your personal vendettas are rectified, can we continue this Armageddon thing?” Val-Koorin asked, breaking the tension.

  “I’m doing my part, Geogyn.” Oswalt cracked a smile at Val-Koorin’s levity. “I believe your part will start momentarily.”

  They released their lock, and Oswalt turned to his personnel.

  “The time is passing quickly, ladies and gentlemen!” Dale spoke with a booming voice. “We will complete our task with efficiency, so help us, God!”

  All the soldiers snapped into formation, and yelled at the top of their lungs, “Yes, General!”

  Oswalt kept a stern look as he surveyed the personnel. He walked across the front of the formation. The group stayed at attention as if preparing for inspection. Oswalt was satisfied with the discipline of his people.

  “Our extrication sorties have become urgent!” Oswalt projected across the formation. “We must sextuple our efforts now that the Horseman is active! Squads, split into the six predetermined units, and get to your transports! Administer your callings with expediency, and remember. God is on your side!”

  Geogyn silently admired their precision as he made his way to Val-Koorin.

  “Have you prepared?” Val-Koorin asked Geogyn as he walked closer to him, still watching the meticulousness of the soldiers.

  The question redirected his fixation to Val-Koorin.

  “I am at peace. I am ready,” Geogyn answered definitively.

  “Your harmony will be replaced by conflict. You must begin with the important and powerful,” Val-Koorin said. “Your first target will correct certain aspects of this world dramatically.”

  “Who will be the first to be erased?” Geogyn inquired.

  “The President of the United States,” Val-Koorin revealed.

  Geogyn knew the dealings of the president intimately. He sent Geogyn on black ops suicide missions frequently. He used dishonest tactics to hold the office. His obsession to cont
rol all the oil of the planet had turned him into a warmonger. His actions hurt the planet in his short reign. He had to go.

  “President Nelson will be erased,” Geogyn confirmed his intent.

  “You are saving this planet, Geogyn,” Val-Koorin attested in his confirmation.

  Geogyn was curious about God’s soldiers. “Where did the Lord Order come from, Val-Koorin?”

  “The Lord Order are the deeply religious followers who wanted to serve me… God… unconditionally. They asked for guidance, and I granted it.”

  “Did they discard their morals to commit household executions?” Geogyn asked him with a tinge of abhorrence.

  Val-Koorin didn’t think he had to explain their methods to him anymore. Then he realized, Geogyn was at peace with his journey, not the others. The Lord Order weren’t created for this task. They weren’t the chosen. They chose themselves. They were volunteers. In his eyes, they were military brutes that found a ‘holy’ way to quench their bloodlust.

  “Members of the Lord Order have the vision of absolution,” Val-Koorin stated. “They know we will have unity by the end of this ordeal. They have prepared for their quest prior to your induction into the fold, and they accept it.”

  Geogyn saw Val-Koorin began to get agitated at his questioning. He didn’t want to tempt God’s wrath, so he changed the subject.

  “How will I get to the president?” he asked Val-Koorin to deter his disturbance. “I mean, I know I could walk there, but it’s a long way to Washington D.C. And I believe you’re on a schedule.”

  “You may want to curb your brashness, Geogyn. Remember who you're talking to,” Val-Koorin admonished him. “You have a personal transport.”

  Oswalt came running up to them both. He stopped close and stood at attention.

  “The Lord Order is dispatched, Lord,” he reported to Val-Koorin.

  “I will watch over them, Dale,” Val-Koorin assured Oswalt. “Geogyn needs his transport to begin his journey.”