by James McEwan
Marcus took a long deep look into Thad’s eyes. “Okay. So maybe there is some truth to your story. Why are you helping Doctor Hammer get away? Shouldn’t you be helping me kill him?”
Thad leaned forward. “Look, Marcus you don’t have to be this, you don’t have to be Throne’s puppet. You can be more ... you can be free. I did. That is why I will not help you kill. That is why I have done everything to stop you.”
Marcus was stunned, he had had thoughts about turning on Thorne, but he never carried them out. “How did you do it, how did you turn on Thorne?”
“A few years back I was given an assignment to kill some children.”
Marcus interrupted Thad. “I remember that one, didn’t like the idea, but did my duty anyway.”
Thad felt sorry for this version of him, he had killed children, and there was probably no way for him to break free now. “I made a choice not to, and I ran and hid. The problem was that I didn’t stay hidden for long, and that is why I’m in this mess now. Nevertheless, it is not too late for you. With my help we can take Thorne down, and you can be free.”
Marcus thought hard about what Thad was saying, but he just could not bring himself to believe that he really could be free. “No, it is too late for me and as it is for you. Now, if you tell me where I can find Doctor Hammer, I will see that you have a quick and painless death.”
Thad sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Marcus asked him.
“I’m sorry you are such a dick.” Thad said, as he launched his chair over his back and head. Marcus had been so distracted that he didn’t see Thad positioning the chair to be able to throw it. The chair smacked Marcus in the face. He toppled over backward smacking his head on the floor. The door slid open and the two security offers rushed in. Thad struck the first one in the throat, making sure only to injure the man. The officer dropped to the floor gasping for breath. The other man swung a wide haymaker. Thad trapped his wild punch and used the man’s momentum to spin him into the doorframe. The man’s head made a kind of wet thud as it bounced off the frame. He crumpled to the floor.
Marcus was stunned, and his head was ringing with pain. Thad was gone and he was just picking himself off the floor as Ms. Case entered the room. “Are you alright?”
“Everything, but my professional pride.” Marcus said, as he wiped blood from his forehead.
Chapter 20
St. Claire was nursing his third beer when Tommy dropped into the chair across the table from him. “Okay, it is all set up; you have your meeting with the boss.”
“Thanks.” was all he said.
Tommy slid two cards across the table. “here, you will need these.”
St. Claire swept them off the table and into his hand. “What are they?”
“One is a credit card preloaded with enough credit to see to your needs till you get off this rock, and the other is a room key at the Galaxy Star.”
St. Claire raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that the big Casino here in town?”
“Yeah, it is.” Tommy said, as he pointed to the bartender to bring him a drink.
“That is awfully generous of you Tommy.” St. Claire said in a very sarcastic tone.
Tommy’s drink arrived, he picked it up and took a sip. “Not really, first there is far too much heat on you to have you stay with me and second you are about to meet with the head of the Organization so I thought it would be best if you were close.”
“Ah, I see, how smart of you. Hide me in the one place the cops would never look for me.” St. Claire said, as he took a sip of his beer.
Tommy cracked a smile across the hairless face of his. “The Organization runs this town, and they own everything, including the police.”
St. Claire finished his thought for him. “and the police would never dare poke around the Organization’s headquarters even for someone like me.”
“Something like that.” Tommy said, then downed the rest of his drink. “Now Dom, I have done all that you asked of me. I have one favor to ask of you.”
“I guessed you have earned a favor or two, what can I do for you?”
Tommy leaned in close. “Never call on me again. Doing favors for you is going to get me killed and I quite like living.”
St. Claire laughed. “No problem after today you will never hear from me again, I promise.”
Tommy stood up. “Good.” He held out his hand. “You take care of yourself and watch your back.”
St. Claire stood up and shook Tommy’s hand. “Thank you again for everything, and Tommy, you take of yourself, and stay out of trouble.”
“Don’t worry, staying out of trouble is my middle name.” and with that, he turned and left. St. Claire stood and watched him leave. He finished his beer and left the empty bottle on the table. He swiped the card to pay and he left the café.
Chapter 21
Thad found himself alone creeping through the dimly lit bowels of the massive rolling machine. He was making his way carefully and slowly to the flight deck where his grav bike was waiting. He had a few problems to solve, first of which was finding Vergil. He couldn’t reach him on the radio. Second, he figured that they knew he would have to come to the flight deck to escape. The third problem was how to escape, and then not get blown out of the sky by The General Hammonds' more than capable weapons.
“One problem at a time Thad.” he whispered softly.
While Chief Case was busy looking for Thad, Commander Hayes was in her private quarters. She was pouring over her old military records. After a few minutes, she found what she was looking for, Project Protogenos. She remembered when she was a young officer on the rise she was selected for a supposed genetic study. Project Protogenos was sold to her as her duty to help by providing a genetic sample so that the military can study the genetic makeup of their best officers. There was never any mention of children being created from that sample.
She was pissed and wanted answers, and one thing that Amanda Hayes was famous for was getting answers. Her hand waved over her comm control. The air in front of her lit up with a list of names. She waved her hand again and the list scrolled. She scrolled down until she found the name she wanted. She pointed at the name and it changed color from blue to green, then disappeared, and was replaced by the hologram of a young and pretty lieutenant. “Admiral Strong’s office, how can I help you?”
She was polite, but Hayes was not in the mood to deal with a lackey. “Admiral Strong, please.”
“I’m sorry, but the Admiral is not taking any calls today. Would you care to leave a message with me?” The lieutenant smiled.
“No, I wish to speak with Admiral Strong and I would like to do it sooner than later.” Hayes was a bit curt with the girl but she didn’t care.
“I’m really sorry ma’am, but the Admiral left strict orders.” The girl dropped all politeness from her voice and replaced it was a stern tone.
Hayes was quickly getting frustrated with the young girl. “It’s Captain, not ma’am and I may be retired, but I can still give you an order, now I order you to put me on the line with the Admiral.”
Her demeanor changed the instant she heard the word Captain. “Yes Sir, I will try, but he will not take your call.”
“You tell him that it is Captain Amanda Hayes calling, he will take the call.”
“Yes Sir, please stand by.” the image of the lieutenant disappeared from view replaced by a rotating image of the Star Guard iconic Starburst in a yellow circle insignia.
After a few seconds, the insignia disappeared to be replaced by the face of an older man whose once blond hair was now a bright silver. He sat ramrod straight in his highly starched white uniform shirt. “Amanda, good to hear from you, but it is not really a good time. What can I do for you?”
She noticed that he had been promoted. “Congrats on your third star.” (Strong was now a vice-admiral, instead of merely a rear admiral.)
“Thank you, now spit it out ... I’m late for a meeting.”
“I
won’t take up much of your time. I just need some information on Project Protogenos.” Hayes said.
“Project what?” He asked looking very confused.
“Richard, don’t you remember the genetic study we were selected for thirty years ago?”
“Vaguely, but what interest do you have in a thirty-year-old top secret project?” He asked.
“Top secret? It wasn’t top secret thirty years ago, what changed?”
He knew that he slipped up. “Damn it, Amanda, it was always top secret, it was just that the officers involved were not told it was top secret.”
She knew this man well enough that if things had been different she would have married him, and she knew the look on his face. He knew way more than he was saying. “Did you know that they were producing children?”
Strong’s face relaxed as if a burden had been somehow lifted. “Yes I know. It is amazing all the things they brief you on, once you become an Admiral, which you would have known if you had stayed in.”
“If I had stayed in, I would be sitting in that chair instead of you.” she couldn’t help herself from reminding him of that fact.
“Yes, a fact you never seem to let me forget.” he grimaced.
“And you are doing your best to change the topic.”
Strong sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair. “Look, the fact is that it is an ongoing program, one that you don’t have the clearance to know about.”
Her face twisted in frustration. “Don’t hide behind clearance bullshit with me. Damn, it Richard you are going to tell me what I want to know…”
“Or what? You are going to really try to blackmail me?”
She snapped back. “No, not blackmail, and if you had not interrupted me I was going to tell you that your top secret ongoing program is producing and training genetically enhanced assassins that are being used to shape the political landscape.”
“What?” Strong was stunned. “What do you mean assassins? I was told that it was to produce the next generation of super soldier.”
It made her smile, to see that she knew something he did not. “Are you really surprised that Command lied to you?”
“Amanda, how do you know all this?”
“Because I was told about it by one of the assassins.” she answered him.
“How do you know you can believe the information?” He asked.
“Because this one is my son.” she let that one sink in.
“Son?”
“Yes, fifty percent of his DNA came from me.”
“I see and he has told you all of this classified information why?”
“That is a long story, but I just wanted confirmation, which you just gave me. Now, if I were you I would look into this project and shut it down if you can.” Hayes said, with conviction.
“You don’t have to tell me that. I have been around long enough to know that secret assassin training programs never lead to anything good. I will do what I can. And Amanda, thank you.”
“No, thank you, Richard.”
“Hey, one last thing?” He asked.
“Yes.” she said.
“When is the next time you are going to be in New Dallas? I would very much like to see you again, let’s say over dinner?” Strong was not shy about asking her out.
“Not sure. I’m close to New Houston now. Give me a few days to make our way back your way then we can talk about dinner.”
“I look forward to it. Now I really have to get to that meeting.” Strong did not wait for her to say goodbye. He switched off the call from his end and left his office with a new mission in mind, while Hayes sat in quarters contemplating the implications of a having a son, but not just one, but two. One from this reality and one from another, the one from her reality was a government killing machine, the other a reformed government killing machine, what to do with them? That was the question that plagued her mind.
It was the first time since she was sixteen years old when she couldn’t decide between two boys who she liked, that she threw herself down on her bed and hugged a pillow trying to think out her next move.
Thad had finally made it to the flight deck. His plans were to recon the flight deck and then find a terminal that he could hack into. He needed to find Vergil and create a distraction. However, like all good plans, they never survive their first contact with the enemy.
He could see his grav-bike sitting where he had left it. A quick look around and he knew something was wrong. There was no one in sight. There should have been at least a tech or someone. Thad made his way from shadow to shadow when he heard Marcus’s voice. “You can come out of the shadows now. I know you are there, I can hear your footsteps.”
Thad froze in place, hiding behind a bulkhead. He risked a quick look. Thad peaked around to see if he could get the jump on is alter ego, but it was not an option. Marcus was standing facing him holding a pistol in one hand and Vergil in the other. “You might as well give up now or I will repaint the wall with his brains.” Marcus said, as he pushed the pistol hard against Vergil’s head.
Thad knew that he was not making a threat. He would do what he said he would. With no choice, he stepped out of the dark and into the light. “No need to kill him, I will come quietly.” Thad approached with his hands in the air.
“That is close enough.” Marcus pointed the pistol at Thad to stop him from getting closer than an arm’s length. “No tricks this time. You are going to come with me back to the holding cell and you are going answer all of my questions or not only will I kill the midget, but I will kill the whole damn crew if I have to.”
Vergil for some reason took leave of his senses. “Dwarf, you idiot!”
Marcus never took his eyes of Thad. “What?”
“I’m a dwarf, not a midget.” Vergil said, and then without warning, he threw a punch with all of the strength he little arm could muster. His punch landed squarely in Marcus’s groin. Marcus had been trained for this kind of hit, but because he was not expecting it, he squealed a bit like a stuck pig. He actually dropped to one knee, nevertheless, he was not defeated, and the brave, but unwise move earned Vergil a vicious backhand. The butt of the pistol struck Vergil on the side of the head leaving a long bloody gash.
Vergil crumpled to the deck unconscious. Marcus tried to bring the pistol back towards Thad, but Thad had covered the distance between them in a flash. His first strike landed on Marcus’s covered forearm, which sent his pistol flying. The next strike was his elbow connecting with Marcus’s chest, which sent him backward onto his back.
Having the initiative, Thad was not about to stop his attack now. He jumped on top of Marcus, and with one hand grabbed the collar of his body armor, and lifted his head towards his advancing fist. Thad’s fist made contact with Marcus’s face, but then something happened that neither of them expected. There was a massive release of energy and Thad was thrown back several feet. The blast was so forceful that he was slammed into the bulkhead with enough force to knock him cold.
Marcus was also thrown in the opposite direction sliding across the floor until he too hit the bulkhead. Chief Case and her security forces had been ordered to stay back, now disregarded the order and rushed onto the flight deck to find three unconscious bodies laid out on the floor.
“What happened here?” One of the security officers asked as he surveyed the scene.
“That’s a good question.” Chief Case replied, standing with her hands on her hips and query on her face.
Thad woke to a pounding in his head and a feeling of disorientation. He opened his eyes to see that he was lying on a metal bunk with an exceptionally thin mattress. He found himself back in a holding cell. He sat up and the world started to tilt. No matter how much he tried to stop himself, the vomit was coming whether he wanted it or not. He fell out of the bunk and onto his knees in front of the metal commode. He retched several times before pushing the flush button. It made a rushing, gurgling sound as the commode whisked his last meal away. Thad grabbed the metal sink a
nd pulled himself up to his feet. He filled the basin, then plunged his face into the cool water. After a few seconds, he pulled his face out and looked at himself in the mirror. The world had finally righted itself and the nausea was fading fast.
“Take it easy, you took a good of thump to your head. The doctor says that he is amazed that your skull is still in one piece. He also said that you have one hell of a concussion and you should rest for a few days.” The voice belonged to Chief Case and when he turned to face her, he could see that she had some real concern in her face.
“I will be fine in few minutes, trust me.” Thad said as he already felt almost normal.
“Care to explain what happened?”
“Yeah, once I understand what happened myself.” Thad said, as he rubbed the quickly shrinking lump on the back of his head.
Case pulled up a chair and sat down in front of his cell. “Well, it is a mystery, one of several that I would like answers to.”
“I’m sorry Janis, but I have little to tell you.”
“Chief Case, if you please, and I get the feeling that you know more than you are telling us. Why is that?”
Thad sat down on the edge of the bunk. “What makes you say that?”
“Because of the other man, we have now confirmed he has identical DNA to you. Yet he is still lying in a bed in the infirmary, recovering from having his skull mended and blood drained from his brain. Yet, you have nothing more than a lump on the back of your head and a concussion. Care to hypothesize on why that is?” She asked, flippantly.
Not sure how to answer that question without divulging Doctor Hammer’s secrets, he figured that their doctor already had a sample of his blood so, it would only be a matter of time before they figured out. “The answers you seek are in my blood.”
“You want to expand your answer a little.” she folded her arms across her chest in frustration.
“No, not really, I’m more worried about my little friend.” Thad answered trying to change the subject.
