Resurgence

by Peter Hoole

  They drove for about another few minutes or so, winding their way through the dense bushland.

  And then they arrived at their location.

  On first impressions, Caleb was not overly enthused by what he saw.

  But if events over the past few days had taught him anything, he knew that he should not make any judgements based on exteriors alone.

  And if Caleb did make judgements, they were not glowing. The building was more of a rundown shack than anything else. The wooden plywood walls and various windows reminded him of cabins that were scattered throughout the North American wilderness. Built primarily for shelter rather than any true comfort, at least Caleb felt the building would safe from the natural elements.

  Adam and his cohorts exited the vehicle in front.

  “Caleb?” Darcy asked, showing Caleb she too had reservations.

  “It’ll be ok, babe.” He replied, in as confident a voice he could, “Just stay close.”

  With those words, Darcy, Caleb and Jace exited the vehicle.

  The day had warmed up under the lunch-time sun. The morning had started out relatively comfortably. So much so that Caleb had barely noticed the temperature at all.

  But, as he had expected, the summer day had heated up to around thirty-two Celsius – or at least that’s what the ‘Bat’s onscreen display had told them. And if he knew anything, it was to trust the accuracy of the Colonials technology.

  After a few steps towards the building, Adam moved over to them.

  “We just need to do one last check, ok?” he said.

  “Check for what?” a defensive Jace said in response.

  Adam looked at the blonde man. It was apparent to Caleb these two would not be getting along any time soon.

  “Just need to make sure you’re not bugged, or don’t have one of their chips in you.”

  Caleb had figured this would happen. And he didn’t put it past the Colonials to low-jack their people.

  Caleb and Darcy put their arms up without hesitation, as one of Adam’s men moved towards them with a device that did not look dissimilar to the wands used at commercial airports.

  According to Adam, the device was specially calibrated to pick up any outgoing signals – the kind that would be emitting a GPS locator.

  “The bastards like to know where their people are at all times. We discovered this the hard way. Some time ago, now, we allowed someone we thought we could trust into another one of our hideouts.”

  “Thought you could trust?” asked Darcy.

  “Yeah...” Adam said, sadness covering his face, “Unfortunately, we chose the wrong bloke, and they nearly wiped us out. Now though... now we know how to spot them.”

  “Handy device you have then.” said Caleb.

  Adam just smiled. It was clear this was a defining moment between his people and Caleb, Darcy and Jace. Once the scan was done, trust would be more formally established.

  Darcy and Caleb were scanned. The man waved the wand over them. Once done, he nodded to Adam, seeming to reassure his leader that all was well. The man then moved towards Jace.

  As he moved, Caleb realised they would now be certain if Jace was a Colonial operative or not. Until then, they had only been able to rely on their instinct, and the context of the situation.

  Now, as with Adam, they would have some definitive proof, one way or another.

  The man waved the device over Jace.

  Jace looked apprehensive.

  Though he needn’t have worried.

  “All clear, Adam.” Said the man, as the device made no noise as it passed over the ASIO operative.

  Adam smiled at the results.

  “Good. Guess you guys can come in then.”

  With that, Adam turned towards the rundown cabin.

  Caleb and Darcy followed, with Jace behind them.

  “You said you had someone here you thought we’d like to meet.” Said Caleb, intrigued by what Adam had said in Haven.

  “Yeah mate.” Adam replied, “All in good time.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Having walked up the steps, the rustic feel and smell of the cabin reminded Caleb of his camping days. He felt the cabin was somehow familiar. Caleb took a moment to look around the bush that surrounded the building. For a moment, he was captivated by the serenity of the place.

  But not for long as he may have liked.

  Adam opened the door, and motioned for Caleb, Darcy and Jace to go inside.

  The interior of the building was much the same as the outside. The only surprising thing was the size of the interior. It felt much larger than he outside façade had indicated. But apart from the size, the interior was distinctly sparse.

  In fact, there were only a couple of chairs and a table.

  As though sensing what they were thinking, Adam offered an explanation, “Don’t worry, we don’t actually live here.”

  Though Adam’s statement answered one question, another lingered in Caleb’s mind.

  “What exactly do you do here?”

  Adam didn’t answer and waved them towards the back of the room. Opposite the entrance, there were two doors, each that presumably led to a different room. Off to the left of the doors was a makeshift kitchen. Makeshift being the operative word, as it only had what looked like a small fridge and a small trash can.

  Adam opened the door to the right of the room.

  As he did, the light from the outside illuminated the room. Adam again motioned for Caleb and Darcy to follow him through to the veranda.

  As they followed, Caleb could see why they had chosen their location. It was elevated and looked down to an area Caleb believed Haven to be located. Despite all the twists and turns on the track, Caleb was still able to keep his bearings. As they looked out, Caleb struggled to see what they were looking at.

  Adam picked up a pair of binoculars that were sitting on the small wooden table.

  He pointed towards Haven, and Caleb looked through the binoculars.

  From the vantage point, they were able to see most of what happened in the town, even though it was some distance away. Caleb figured they were between six or seven hundred yards from the town – close enough to observe, but far enough they could run if they needed to.

  But there was one thing that came to Caleb’s mind – how had they not been discovered? While the location was some distance from Haven, he was sure the Colonials would not have been so sloppy as to let them stay there and observe them.

  “How did you avoid getting caught?” Caleb asked bluntly.

  Adam seemed to struggle for an answer.

  “To be honest… we didn’t.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think you should know the whole story first.” Adam replied, as he walked back into the main room of the cabin.

  Caleb followed, intrigued by the statement.

  As he re-entered the room, Caleb saw that Darcy and Jace had already sat down. There were three other chairs, one of which Adam gestured for Caleb to sit in.

  As he sat, Darcy moved her chair closer to his.

  Adam sat in one of the remaining chairs. He sat virtually opposite Caleb and Darcy.

  Jace was seated to their left. All three of them had adopted the same posture – leaning forward with their elbows on their knees.

  Adam had their full attention.

  “Well… I guess I should start from the beginning.” He said.

  “That’s the best place to start.” Darcy said with a smile.

  “Before I do though, can you tell me what you know?”

  Caleb took a breath. He was slightly disappointed, as he felt that he was the one who was going to get new information.

  Adam could clearly see his disappointment, but reassured him, “Don’t worry. This will be a two-way street. I just wanna know where’s best for me to start.”

  Caleb again took a breath, realising that if he wanted information from Adam, he was going to have to give up some of his own.

  “Well�
� I’m not sure where to begin, really.” He began, “But I guess I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.”

  Adam just nodded, waiting for Caleb to speak.

  Caleb then detailed the past few days. He discussed the email they had received from Paul. As he spoke, he felt like it had been a lifetime ago. So much had changed since that morning in Darcy’s apartment.

  Caleb detailed the trip to Phoenix and back to Los Angeles. He then led into the confrontation in Darcy’s apartment with the assassin and the others.

  It was when Caleb began talking about Matthew that he faltered. Previously, he had spoken with confidence and conviction.

  But what had happened with Matthew had shaken him. Caleb told Adam of the rendezvous with his team.

  As he spoke about Murphy, he pondered telling Adam the whole truth. Caleb was unsure of how Adam would react if he knew they were working with Cook’s daughter.

  He held the information back and continued with the story.

  He detailed the trip to Seattle, their failed attempt to stop the attack on the plane.

  Adam shook his head at that moment but urged Caleb to continue.

  Caleb did as he was asked and told Adam of their luck with finding the Kite, and their journey that brought them to Haven.

  When Caleb described the manoeuvre that took them into the hangar facility, Adam’s eyes widened.

  Yet he remained silent. He clearly didn’t want to prompt Caleb in any way.

  Caleb continued, and discussed the betrayal from Jacob, and the information he’d received from Cook in his office.

  Finally, Caleb spoke of his being shot. He was reluctant to say he was killed, because he still couldn’t quite come to terms with it.

  And that is where Adam finally spoke.

  “So?” he began, “You’ve had some of it then?”

  Caleb knew he was referring to the Source. He simply nodded in reply.

  Adam did not elaborate on the reason for his question, and merely motioned for Caleb to continue.

  “From there,” Caleb resumed, “We went back to Sydney, got some information, and came back.”

  “Information from who? Colonials?” asked Adam.

  “One of them was a nurse – Jane.”

  “Any others?”

  “Yeah – there was another – William.”

  Adam looked around at his team. The named seemed to cause him some concern.

  “And where is William now?” asked Adam.

  “He’s dead.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I saw him go down myself.”

  Adam again looked around at his colleagues – not looking for any specific feedback, but more to ensure they had heard the discussion.

  Caleb also looked at the others. He could see they had a certain look on their face. It was as though they had a hard time believing what he was saying.

  “It’s true…” interjected Darcy, “We saw him die.”

  Adam shook his head.

  “Look,” he said, “I believe you saw what you did. But these guys… they’ve got a habit of coming back.”

  “So, they can’t be killed?” asked Caleb, disturbed by what he had just heard.

  “That’s not what I’m saying,” Adam replied, “It’s just that its bloody hard. Only an instant shutdown of the nervous system would do it. Let me ask one thing though… What did you do with the bodies?”

  Caleb and Darcy turned to Jace. They had been in the bedroom when the house had been cleaned.

  Jace realised it was his turn to talk, “We buried ‘em.”

  “Where?” asked Adam.

  “In the backyard of the safe house.” Jace replied, “Just temporary for now. Our clean-up guys will go in and sort it out later. But for now, like I said… it’s just temporary.”

  Adam shook his head, “How long ago?” he asked.

  “About six hours,” replied Caleb.

  Adam paused.

  “Not much we can do about it now. If he’s back, then he’ll be long gone.”

  He returned his gaze to Caleb, “What happened next?”

  “You know the rest. We went back to Haven, saw that the place had imploded. After that, we met you.”

  Adam stood from his chair and turned back to Caleb.

  Before he could get a full word out, Darcy interrupted.

  “Now hang on.” She said angrily, “We’ve told you what we know. Now it’s your turn.”

  Adam continued to pace the room, seemingly reluctant to speak after what he had heard. Though what part of what Caleb had said disturbed him the most was still a mystery.

  After a minute or so, Adam sat back down.

  “Alright then, I’ll start at the beginning.”

  “That’d be best.” Darcy responded.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Way back in the day,” Adam began, “Our people lived on this land. For thousands of years, we were the only ones here. We lived in peace and unity, working together to bring up our children, our families working as one to create a better future. But one day, that all changed.”

  Adam looked grim as he spoke. It was obvious to Caleb and Darcy that retelling the story was difficult for him.

  “My people,” he restarted, choking on his words slightly, “we welcomed them with open arms. You’ve heard stories about some indigenous people waiting on the beach, spears raised and shouting aggressively to new arrivals? There was none of that from us. We were, hell, we still are, a peaceful people. We welcomed the English with open arms. We helped them settle, find water, food and shelter. We welcomed them into our lives. From what I’ve been told, there was a strong sense of joy that a new partner had been found.”

  “So, what happened?” Darcy asked, her instincts kicking in.

  “For a time, it all seemed ok. While language and certain cultural issues were a factor, there was genuine hope that we could get along with them. But then, it took a turn. Our people started getting sick, and then we were murdered. There was so much bloodshed. We tried to be reasonable, but they would not hear of it.”

  “What caused it?” asked Darcy, already feeling she knew the answer.

  “All I can say is - Don’t believe everything you read in history books.” Adam said, “While a lot of the genocide from the invasion was based on racism, our people were killed for a different reason.”

  “The Source?” asked Caleb.

  “Yeah. Cook and his people found it one day. How they found it? I dunno. But we do know that they changed, and our people became the enemy.”

  Adam wiped away some of the tears welling in his eyes.

  “We lost so many good people since then.” He stuttered, “All because of Cook and his Colonials. All because of the Source.”

  Adam appeared to sense the questions that were in Caleb’s mind, and answered.

  “You’re probably thinking about the time it has taken to get to this point?”

  Caleb nodded in response.

  “To be honest, we started from so far back, with the might and technology that Cook, and his people possessed, we were never going to catch up.”

  “So, what did you do?”

  “We waited. We trained. We did all we could to try and become better, more efficient at fighting. We learned weapons; some of us joined the Army, Navy and Airforce. We learned to become the best soldiers we could. And, in our down time, we’d come back here, to where the Source originated. Here, we knew we could keep an eye on them, and be ready if we were needed.”

  “I gotta ask,” said Caleb, “How old are you?”

  Adam seemed surprised by the question. “Me? I’m 32.”

  “So, you haven’t had…”

  “Nah mate. My people. Back in the day they had some ability to pass it on genetically. But over time, after Cook cut off the supply, we just became like everyone else – mortal.”

  Caleb tried to sound solemn, but part of him was excited that they would have some genuine help. Adam and his colleagues see
med to have genuine hatred for the Colonials, and that could only work to Caleb’s advantage.

  “So, how many people do you have?” Caleb asked.

  Adam again shook his head.

  “You’re looking at us brother. We’re it.”

  Caleb was shocked. He had anticipated them to number in the thousands, given the years they’ve had to prepare.

  “You see,” Adam said as he explained, “My people, the first Australians as we now call ourselves - we were decimated by the British when they came. If it wasn’t famine, it was disease. If it wasn’t disease, it was flat out murder. We couldn’t fight back. Sure, over time, we built up some forces. But with everything that’s happened since, here, in Australia. Shit, it’s been hard enough just getting any of our identity back, let alone being able to make an army for something that only a few mobs knew about.”

  Adam again took a breath.

  “And after they attacked us a few years back… shit, I’m surprised there’s still the eight of us.”

  “Eight?” Caleb asked, only seeing six members in the room.

  “Yeah – two more back there.”

  Jace had been listening in to the conversation.

  “Why didn’t you come to us?” he asked.

  Adam turned to the blonde Australian, a look of disbelief across his face.

  “Why would we do that?” Adam said abruptly.

  “We could have helped?”

  “Helped? Mate… we can’t trust you. We can’t trust anyone. There is no telling who in your organisation, or any organisation, is one of them. Shit… for all we knew, you may have been one of them.”

  Caleb interrupted, having a feeling what the answer to his question would be, “Sounds like you tried.”

  Adam looked down.

  “Of course, we did. We tried to get word out. But it only went so far. About ten years ago, we tried to get the help of the locals around here.”

  “In Haven?”

  “Nah… just some other people that we knew. Friends from the army… you know… people we thought could help in a fight.”