Resurgence

by Peter Hoole

  “Sure thing.” The waitress replied as she jotted it down on her note pad.

  The waitress left the booth and returned a few moments later with an empty coffee mug and a decanter. She poured the black liquid from the pot, the steam rising from Deanna mug as she filled.

  “Just let me know if you need anything else.” said the waitress as she finished filling Deanna’s coffee.

  “Thanks.”

  With that, the server moved back towards the television. The service was a bit curter than Deanna was accustomed to. But who could blame the woman. Deanna felt she must be just as concerned as everyone else seemed to be.

  Deanna tried to again centre on what she was trying to accomplish.

  She pulled the laptop from her bag, and opened it. As she had shut it down to save battery, Deanna waited for the computer to come to life. It took only a few moments, and Deanna typed in her password – ‘Garfield1983’ – the name of her first pet and the year she was born. As she typed, it brought a smile to her face. For a moment, she was reminded of simpler times - times that existed only a few days earlier. She thought of the chubby ginger cat, which was so easy to name that it was almost sad. And she thought of the fun she had when she was a child, stroking and teasing the cat as it played with the small toy mouse she had bought for it.

  Unfortunately, it was only a fleeting moment of happiness, as she opened her email.

  To her surprise, her inbox had several new messages. She scanned through the list. One was from a different case she was working on, another from her friend.

  There was only one that caught her eye immediately.

  It was from Jill, Matthew’s mother in Colorado.

  As Jill was the reason Deanna had begun her journey, she decided to open it first.

  The message was brief.

  Hi Deanna,

  Thank you for all your help so far. If you find anything else, please let me know.

  Jill.

  Deanna was surprised. The message seemed totally irrelevant, and it was not like Jill to email. While their first encounter had been through the medium, after that first time they had always communicated by phone or in person.

  Deanna studied the email address, and it was indeed from the same email Jill had sent the first communication.

  As Deanna looked, she noticed an attachment. It was unlike anything she had seen before, but as it was from Jill, Deanna thought there may be something to it.

  She double clicked on the icon.

  After a moment, it opened up into a new window and... Nothing.

  All Deanna could see was a blank screen.

  She closed the attachment down, and retried it. Again, it only opened to a blank screen. Deanna studied the name of the attachment – all it said was ‘Attachment 1’ – no clues there.

  Deanna figured it may just be a glitch in the signature of Jill’s email.

  Deanna hit the reply button, and typed:

  Hi Jill,

  I’ll make sure I call you if I have anything.

  Thanks

  Deanna.

  And with that, Deanna closed the email, and read the next one.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Is that the last of it Casey?”

  Caleb had ordered his Sergeant go out to the car and bring in any equipment from the ’Bat. In addition, all the group members had emptied their pockets and placed their weapons in the middle of the room. While Dunleavy took some convincing, it was important that they establish exactly what they were working with.

  It was the first thing they needed to ascertain as Caleb could not effectively plan their next move without understanding where they were starting form.

  “That’s it, Cap.” Casey replied.

  “Fine...” Caleb said, “What have we got?”

  Murphy called out the equipment.

  “Three M4’s, four Glocks,” Murphy said, referring to the assault weapons and pistols respectively, “Everyone’s got a Ka-Bar.”

  “What about tech?”

  “We’ve got a couple of Colonial tablets, but most of the other tech is in the car.”

  “What about the rest of it?”

  “It’s stuck in the car on the plane... remember... the one we took to the Colony?” said Dunleavy, his voice oozing with sarcasm.

  Caleb ignored him, “Is there anything else?”

  “Just the shirts on our backs, Cap.”

  “Hang on one fucking second.” Dunleavy again spoke up. Caleb was beginning to wonder if he ever spoke to anyone with genuine respect.

  “What is it, Mike?” Caleb asked.

  “There is something else. Something really fucking important.”

  “And what’s that?”

  Dunleavy turned to Darcy.

  Caleb also looked towards Darcy.

  “What is it, babe? What have you got?” Caleb asked.

  Darcy looked at Caleb, confused. And then it dawned on her. Caleb was not conscious when Darcy injected him with the device she had found in Haven’s medical bay.

  “Oh Caleb,” she said, “I assumed you’d remember...”

  “Remember what?”

  Darcy reached in her pocket and pulled out five EpiPen-like devices.

  “What are those?” asked Caleb.

  “Those???” Dunleavy asked, “Those are the things that saved your life.”

  It dawned on Caleb.

  “They have the Serum?” he asked.

  “Not quite,” said Murphy, “They have the Source though. Enough to make you well again, but not enough for... well...”

  Murphy didn’t need to finish her sentence. Caleb knew that he was not immortal. At the thought, he was almost relieved. He was not happy with the fact that his immortality may be related to the destruction he had seen.

  “Good.” he said.

  “What are we going to do with them Caleb?”

  Caleb considered the question. If the Source was no longer available since the Haven implosion, then those five vials could be important to the Colonials.

  “I’ll figure it out.” Caleb replied.

  There were a few moments of silence in the room. Caleb used the limited time to think of their next move.

  After a short time, an idea formed.

  Caleb knew they could not take on the Colonials by themselves. They needed an army, or several armies to take them out.

  And the only way to do that was to get the word out – to tell the right people about what was happening, and hope they would listen.

  But he also knew they needed more information.

  “Murphy” Caleb began.

  “Yes sir.” Murphy replied.

  “How much information is on those tablets? Is there anything we can use?”

  Murphy realised his motivation for the question.

  “There is some, Sir. But not enough. We’re going to need more.”

  “Like what?” Caleb asked. “What do you think, Mike?” Caleb asked Dunleavy.

  “Think about what, Jackson?”

  “If we’re going to convince people to join our cause...”

  Dunleavy thought for a few seconds, “If it were me? I’d need transcripts, videos... anything that points to them being the terrorists and not this so-called ‘New Light’ group that I’m apparently in fucking charge of...”

  Caleb turned to Murphy, “Is there anything like that?”

  “No, I’m afraid not.”

  Damn, Caleb thought.

  “Wait...” Darcy spoke up, “I know where there is some.”

  Caleb looked at Darcy, his spirit lifting.

  “Where, babe?”

  “Haven.”

  Caleb knew she was right. Haven, while probably destroyed, was their best chance to get the information they needed.

  Caleb turned to Murphy, “You know more about the place than we do. What happened with the implosion? I’m assuming it wasn’t total destruction.”

  Murphy replied, “Sir, you’re right. It was pretty much totally destroyed.”
/>
  “Pretty much?” asked Caleb.

  “The implosion was not total. The charges were rigged in such a way that the rooms would fall in on themselves, but the corridors,” Murphy explained, “The corridors were left standing. It’s kind of a fail-safe to ensure that people could still get in and out.”

  Darcy came to a realisation, “So that’s how you were able to escape.”

  “Indeed,” replied Murphy, “Once Caleb was shot, we were able to escape from the facility. It wasn’t easy...”

  “So, what happened to James?” asked Caleb.

  “I’m not sure, sir. Everything happened so fast. All I know is that it was only the three of us that definitely made it out.”

  Caleb considered what Murphy had said. He was surprised she had not rescued her father.

  “I need more, Murphy. What happened immediately after I was shot.”

  Murphy paused.

  “I’m not proud of what I did,” she began, tears slightly welling in her eyes, “But I knocked him out. I saw him fall. I fought with William. He seemed surprised that I could take him, but…”

  “But what?”

  “My intention was always to go down with the Colony. But when I saw you get shot… I guess… well… I was in a rage. The adrenalin must have kicked in, and I took out William. As I said, I don’t think he expected I could fight as well as I did, but, that’s the training for you. So, after I relieved him of his weapon, I got him to carry you out… and the rest you know.”

  Caleb was unsure if Murphy was telling the whole truth, but he had little choice other than to believe her.

  “We still need to go back.” Caleb said, turning to Darcy.

  “Shit...” again, Dunleavy interrupted, “You’re actually thinking about going back there?”

  Caleb just nodded, but not towards Dunleavy. His communications were with Darcy.

  “We’re going back to fucking Haven??? What’s the point if it’s all caved in?” Mike said again.

  “No, we are not, Mike.”

  “Well... what do you mean?”

  “Darcy and I will go back... the rest of you have another mission.”

  Murphy and Casey paid attention.

  “You two... you’re gonna take Mike and head back to the states. Once you’re there, find Walker and the others and head to Minot.”

  “Are you kidding, Jackson?” Dunleavy protested, “My face is fucking everywhere, especially state-side. I can’t just walk down the street there. People will recognise me.”

  Caleb looked at Darcy and smiled.

  “I have an idea for that too” he said.

  As Caleb finished speaking, there was a knock at the door.

  Immediately, the three marines sprung to attention, each grabbing a weapon from the middle of the room. Casey and Murphy grabbed a pistol, and Caleb grabbed his Carbine. Almost as a reflex action, they raised their weapons and pointed them towards the door.

  Caleb motioned to Dunleavy to open the door.

  “No fucking way” Dunleavy whispered to Caleb.

  “Mike... if it’s your contact, you need to answer it. Can’t risk them going off at an unknown face. We’ve got you covered.”

  Dunleavy resigned himself, knowing Caleb was right.

  He edged towards the door.

  “Is that you, Jace?”

  “Mate... who the fuck do you think it is?”

  Caleb recognised the voice. It was the same man he had heard on the phone at the gas station.

  Dunleavy was also visibly relieved, and he opened the door.

  “Wait, Mike.” Caleb said, “Are you sure we can trust him?”

  Dunleavy turned to Caleb, and with a smile on his face, “Pretty sure. But, I guess we’ll find out in about five seconds...”

  ***

  Catherine was alerted by an alarm on her tablet.

  The standard issue device had been calibrated to suit her needs. Sleek in design, much of the technology in the tablet had been used for the mainstream world, and the Colonials owned the patent.

  Not that the world knew it. The Colonials had been relatively liberal with technology they wanted to share, and the tablets were no exception. As they felt the world was ready, the Colonials would often leak various upgrades. Some of the largest companies in the world had made vast amount of money from the Colonials advancements. And of course, the Colonials had a piece of each of those companies. They were never the major share-holders, but they always had enough to ensure that their own advancement was never tempered by the lack of funding.

  However, the thought of the technology was the farthest thing from Catherine’s at that moment.

  She was much more concerned with the notification she had received.

  It had only been hours earlier that she had been told of the Private Investigator. She had many operatives scattered throughout the various lay enforcement and intelligence agencies in the zone. While it did not offer them any control of most situations, they were able to keep tabs on what was happening.

  In this case, the assets she had cultivated in the FBI worked once again.

  In just the previous few days they had been notified by one of their people that Dunleavy had made his way to Seattle. As a result, Robert had ordered one of their best strike teams to the airport, in hopes they would assist with Emmet with his mission.

  After news broke of the downed airplane, it was evident the team had succeeded.

  Once again, however, Catherine’s assets had come through.

  She had received a phone call from one of her men – Daniel.

  Daniel had been planted in the FBI, and through the right manoeuvring had made sure he was part of any team that would investigate such attacks – the special anti-terrorism taskforce.

  Dan was able to infiltrate the FBI, and once there he was able to ensure that any breadcrumbs the Colonials left were found and interpreted in the right fashion.

  That is why the attacks have been blamed on the New Light terrorist organisation - a fictional group created by the Colonials to distract the rest of the world from their ultimate objective. It was also Dan that had leaked the information to the news that Dunleavy was the head of New Light.

  He had done well, Catherine thought, and she was proud of what her training had accomplished.

  And now, it seemed, he had come through once again.

  In his phone call, he spoke of a private investigator named Deanna. From the call, it had been apparent that Matthew – another one of Pierre’s assets – has made a phone call to his parents in his hometown in Colorado. Fortunately, it had turned out that Matthew could not get through.

  How he had been able to make the call, Catherine did not know.

  But now was not the time to ascertain that solution.

  Now she was focused on her tablet, and the notification it bore.

  A light was flashing on her screen, showing a slow moving do across a map of the north-east United States. The dot was slowly making its way up the I-76W, about to cross the Ohio Border.

  According to the information on the screen, the target would be arriving in Minot in around twenty hours.

  The dot was Deanna’s car, having left the diner and continuing on her journey. Catherine knew that Deanna could not have known she was being tracked.

  The technology was not of the ilk the Colonials liked to share. It was a program, imbedded in an email attachment. When the receiver opened the attachment, all that would appear would be a blank screen.

  But, as Catherine knew, once the attachment was open, it ran some malware on the user’s device, and sent out a tracking signal using the systems Wi-Fi.

  It was an effective tool as it would work with any device a target used to send and receive email, including a cell phone.

  Catherine smiled when she saw the dot.

  She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and dialled her FBI asset.

  Dan answered the phone almost immediately, as though he was expecting the call.

  “Cath
erine?” he answered.

  “Yes Dan.”

  “It’s worked I take it?” Dan asked down the phone.

  “It is indeed. Well done.”

  Dan let out a brief chuckle on the other end of the line, “Yeah... give me a hard job next time.”

  Catherine was not usually one for jokes, but she afforded herself a brief smile.

  “And what of the mother?” she asked, referring to Matthew’s mother – Jill, “have you dealt with her?”

  “Of course I have... and her husband.” Dan replied, “Like I said, give me a hard job next time.”

  Catherine again gave her congratulations, and hung up the phone.

  After placing her phone back in her pocket, she looked at the moving dot on her screen, “Now... what to do with you?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The tension had soon dissipated at the safe-house. After opening the door, there was a palpable sense of familiarity between Dunleavy and the man he had referred to as Jace.

  Jason Miles was not what Caleb had been expecting. A younger man, Jace stood around the same height as Caleb, though would have to have been a few years older. His thick blond hair reminded Caleb of Prince Charming from Shrek. Neatly combed and as organised as the rest of him. He had a strong physique, obviously earned through meticulous training and diet. If Jace had not been in the intelligence business, he would have made a great lifeguard, if only to further the Australian stereotype.

  As hard as he tried, Caleb could not see any similarity between Jace and Dunleavy.

  But then he spoke.

  “Jesus-fucking-Christ.”

  Those were the first words Caleb heard from Jace in person. It was then apparent that Jace and Dunleavy were more similar than he’d thought.

  The words were in reaction to the three marines and Darcy pointing their weapons at him as soon as he stepped through the door.

  “It’s alright guys, put your weapons away.”

  Caleb was still apprehensive. Just because the Dunleavy recognised Jace did not mean he was not a threat. But they had little choice other than to trust him. As such, he chose not to put down his weapon. Rather, he lowered it, ready to raise when necessary