Perfect.
Then, he enjoyed a hot shower before crashing for the night.
❖
Victor
Victor stormed into the control room and found Arek and Miguel at their workstations. When he learned the technicians had finished the Rangeley panel restoration project in less time than forecasted, he ordered them to charge the reactor with a mega-fusion reaction. Now that it was ready, it was time for him to up the ante. He walked over to Dr. Madison’s workstation and initiated the reactor core’s primary ignition sequence.
“Can we help you with something?” Arek asked as the sound of increasing energy oscillations resonated through the small facility.
“Yes, you can monitor the interior of the reactor core,” Victor said, pulling off his jacket and draping it over a chair.
The technicians looked at each with confusion, then shrugged. A moment later, the flat screens mounted on the wall displayed the empty interior of the Orgonon reactor core.
Victor pulled off his tie and hung it over his coat. “I want you to set a five-minute delay on the firing sequence. Program it now.”
“What are you doing?” Arek asked, warily tapping buttons at his workstation. “You’re not going in there, are you?”
“That is none of your concern.” He unbuttoned his white dress shirt and and pulled it off, folding it neatly over the coat and tie.
“Victor, we’ve never tested this facility for Genesis II,” Miguel exclaimed.
“Yes, we have. Blake and Quinn tested it for us.” Victor pulled off his white undershirt, revealing a chiseled, hairy physique and eight-pack abs.
“But not with the original panel configuration! We have no idea what it will do to human tissue.” Arek protested.
“We know exactly what it will do. It created Dark Flame and Blue Spekter, and it will work on me. If you don’t want to be a part of this, you can leave when you finish programming the five-minute delay. I won’t consider your actions to be insubordinate.”
“We should call Dr. Madison,” Miguel said.
“You may only call Dr. Madison after the reactor has powered down, not before. Is that clear?” Victor flexed and rolled his head around his neck.
“Yes, sir,” Arek and Miguel answered simultaneously.
“Reactor array at full power,” Miguel commented from his workstation.
“The firing trigger is ready, sir,” Arek said. Then, he stepped back from his console, indicating he was not willing to assume responsibility for the next step.
Victor sighed and crossed the room to Arek’s station. “Dark Flame wouldn’t hesitate. Perhaps you should take a page from his book.”
Arek shook his head and then pointed at an illuminated red button. “Once you press this button, you’ll have five minutes to get into the reactor and step onto the platform…”
“Perfect,” Victor said, cutting him off and slapping the red button with his hand. The system beeped its confirmation. A moment later, a five-minute countdown appeared on the status monitors.
“Auto-sequence initiated with five-minute delay,” Miguel replied.
“Do not call Dr. Madison until I’ve been dosed, is that clear?” he asked. If I choose to back out at the last minute, I don’t need her knowing what I am about to do.
“Yes, sir,” Arek and Miguel replied simultaneously.
Victor turned and walked out of the control room. Two minutes later, he stepped into the reactor core and shut the door behind him. Around him, the reactor core hummed and buzzed with energy as the fully-charged system prepared to energize the chamber.
The minutes that passed might as well have been hours of anxious waiting. Then, a tinge of regret seeped into Victor’s mind.
Are you absolutely certain you want to risk everything just to prove a point? Just to have what they have? To take over what’s left of the Archimandrion? To rule?
He took a deep breath and steadied himself, pushing his doubts away from the present moment.
Get a grip, Victor.
This is my time.
This will be my ultimate sacrifice for The Order and everything it stands for. I’ll take their petty plans and drag them all kicking and screaming into the future. They’ll never see me coming. But first, I’ll eliminate Quinn and then subdue Blake. And if I can’t, I’ll wipe him out and grow my own, loyal super army.
Above him, the loud clang of a mechanical switch flipping echoed in the chamber. Victor inhaled with surprise and readied himself, his arms at his side, legs akimbo. The quick whine of a heavy motor activating beneath him drew his eyes down to the metal disk he stood on.
He looked up and watched as the blue-white ring of spinning light discharged a shimmering cascade of orgone energy into the chamber. At the same time, the conical tri-antenna array descended as the pulsing energy sounds in the chamber increased in cadence and speed.
In between the hexagonal panels, the normally downward-flowing streams of energy in the eight tubes had reversed, sending orgone up to the pulsing ring at the top of the dome. A moment later, the sound of an energy surge rapidly charging and discharging filled the chamber.
Too late, Victor…You’re past the point of no return.
The blue and white energy swirls above him exploded downward with a blinding flash and a deafening blast. Beneath his feet, the metal disk glowed yellow as it reacted with the energy swirling around them.
The disk beneath him shook as a second, much louder rapid energy blast rose from the disc, moved to the ceiling, and then stopped. He looked up and winced.
Shit.
A cascade of energy rocketed downward and surged through his body, energizing him. The breath in Victor’s throat became stuck as he felt all the muscles in his body constrict. He felt the hair on his head, arms, chest, and legs stand on end as the powerful rush of orgone energy surged through him. He shifted his eyes downward and saw red sparks and arcs of energy dancing across his torso. The world around him took a distinctly red glow for a few moments, and then the roar of energy and raw power that swirled around him ceased and the energy dissipated. A moment later, the platform lowered and retracted into the floor.
Victor dropped to his knees and coughed. Then a wave of nausea overcame him and he dry-heaved.
No, come on, you’ve got this. You didn’t do this for nothing!
When he stopped dry-heaving, he pushed himself to his feet and walked through the antiquated control room, his sense of balance slightly off. He rode the antique elevator back up to the control sub level.
The boys had time to climb back out of the chamber via the tunnel and almost make it back to the campground. If something were to go wrong, it will happen in the next thirty minutes.
When the elevator jolted to a stop and the outer doors slid open, Arek and Miguel met him at the elevator.
“Madison’s on her way and she’s pissed,” Arek said as Victor stumbled into his arms.
“She’ll know what to do if anything goes wrong.”
“At least your head didn’t explode like the first guy,” Miguel quipped as they led him into the workshop and escorted him over to a medical bed. He hopped up and sat on it.
“A comforting thought,” Victor said. A moment later, his vision blurred. The door slid open and Dr. Madison charged at him like a linebacker.
“You stupid idiot!” she screamed, but her voice was distorted, like she was yelling through water. Then, his vision swirled and faded.
Oh crap, not like this…
Victor fell forward into Arek and Miguel’s arms and surrendered to the encroaching blackness in his mind.
9 | We Stand United
Quinn
“I finally told my dads,” Blue Spekter said.
“Good, how did it go?” Ron asked, waiting with Blue Spekter inside one of the Hilton Garden Inn’s boardrooms. His brother had used his corporate discount to pay for the room when Ron asked for a favor, promising that one day he would meet Blue Spekter.
“Considering they sa
w me save the Memorial Bridge from the runaway cargo ship, pretty good. They didn’t freak out too much, except with excitement. I think they’re a little concerned about my safety, but they’re being really awesome about trusting me.”
“I’m glad you told them.”
“They weren’t too happy with your advice not to tell them, but I convinced them you changed your mind and told them I hadn’t said anything because I was afraid of losing them somehow.”
“Oh good, so the next parent-teacher conference won’t be too awkward, then,” Ron said, chuckling.
“Hope not.” Blue Spekter rocked on his heels.
“Are you nervous?”
Blue Spekter shrugged. “A little, but if anything goes wrong, you’ve got two super-powered people to protect you.” He flexed his muscles and stretched, the blue super suit flexing with him.
“That’s the only reason Stephanie allowed me to come. If the DHS were to pull any stunts and anything happens to me, she’ll have your head. Speaking of two super-powered people, where’s Ana Maria?”
Blue Spekter smiled. “She’s already here.”
Ron looked around. “I take it she’s invisible?”
Blue Spekter nodded.
“That’s not creepy, at all,” he said, looking around the room.
Blue Spekter chuckled and cocked his head to the side, a familiar voice reaching his super-sensitive ears through the closed doors.
“You guys wait here. I’ll go check it out and make sure it’s not a trap. It’s not like we haven’t tried that before, right?” Lieutenant Doral said.
“Very funny,” Agent Potter replied.
“The police are coming,” Blue Spekter said. He cocked his head and listened to multiple sets of footsteps. “Three people, I think.”
“I’m really proud of you, Blue Spekter. These people are coming together because you won their trust and they believe in you. That’s monumental, and I hope one day you will appreciate how significant this moment is.”
“Thanks,” Blue Spekter replied, nodding at his mentor. A moment later, the boardroom door opened and the lieutenant poked his head in. Blue Spekter raised a hand and waved at him.
Doral nodded and pulled the door wide open. Chief Applegate and Agent Potter—both in civilian clothes—walked into the ballroom. Doral, also in plainclothes, followed them in and Blue Spekter made introductions.
“Why exactly are you here?” Chief Applegate asked.
“I’m his mentor,” Ron responded.
“He’s here because he has guided me from the beginning and helped me get my powers under control. Without him, I might have accidentally blown something up. Besides, as the resident comic-book based super powers, superhero, and super villain expert, we strategically need him.”
Chief Applegate rolled her eyes and Agent Potter stared at him with a blank expression.
Agent Potter cleared his throat. “You expect me to grant a civilian unlimited access to this…”
“No, Blue Spekter said. “I expect you to accept that this civilian is on the team and has way more access than you’ll ever have. You need to be okay with that.”
Potter frowned, then nodded. “Fine.”
Doral and Applegate eyed one another with raised eyebrows, silently impressed at how easily Blue Spekter had shut down the DHS leader.
Hearing more footsteps, Blue Spekter pointed to the opening door as Captain David Prett’s familiar build filled the doorway.
“I heard there’s a party in this room?” he said, his Southern drawl pushing through the words. Behind him, Goodbutt, Trinity, and Tara—whom he had yet to meet—followed their leader into the room.
After another round of introductions, Blue Spekter walked to the head of the rectangular conference table and cleared his throat. He looked at each member of his team as they settled into the comfortable, black leather boardroom chairs. The high school teacher sat at his right, followed by the two police officers and one DHS agent. On his left sat a world-class, non-existent cyber espionage team.
Remaining on his feet, he set his hands on the back of the chair in front of him and looked across the table to where he sensed Ana Maria standing. The eyes in the room tracked Blue Spekter’s glance and stared at nothing until she appeared out of thin air.
“Dammit, there’s another one,” Agent Potter said, his voice and posture shifting to express resigned surprise.
Chief Applegate’s jaw dropped and then her head whipped around. She glared at Blue Spekter.
“Everyone, this is Ana Maria Garcia. I’ll let her tell you why she’s on my team and why she’s chosen this moment to introduce herself to you.”
Blue Spekter sat down as the stunned group listened to Ana Maria explain her story, going back to The Order’s experimentations on human subjects—herself included—under the guise of Project Genesis. She finished with her knowledge on Project Genesis II and the need to stop Victor Kraze, no matter the cost.
When she finished, Agent Potter rubbed his temples. “You’ve just made my nightmare ten times worse,” he groaned.
Since everyone was up-to-date on the how and whys of his powers, Blue Spekter updated the team so they’d all be starting from the same page. “With the intel David’s team is gathering from the listening devices I planted, we’ll be able to hack into and pull down the entire network, figure out who’s who, and more importantly, learn the locations of their secret bases and reactor cores.”
“What is your team’s progress, Captain Prett?” Agent Potter asked, stroking his chin.
“Trinity?” David said, deferring to his team member.
Surprised, the man cleared his throat and sat up. “Well, uh, things have not been going as smoothly as expected. Normally we crack ciphers and get behind the firewalls in record time, but The Order has some sophisticated equipment and hardware we’ve never encountered before. All their main systems are locked down pretty tight, but we have been able to gain access to some less-protected systems like the building’s power grid. Apparently, the windows have all been replaced with solar-cell glass. We could cut power to the building, but the system would automatically top-off the solar power batteries every day.”
“Star Trek,” Ron said, snapping his fingers.
“What?” Trinity asked, confused.
“Oh my gawd,” Agent Potter said, resting his forehead in his hands. “I don’t believe this is happening.”
Ron ignored him. “In Best of Both Worlds part two, when the Borg were about to destroy the Enterprise, Data successfully hacked into Locutus—Captain Picard—and planted a command in the Borg’s regenerative subcommand path. It was a low priority system that granted him enough access to trick the Borg into stopping their assault and regenerating their power. Long story short, it set off a feedback loop that overloaded and blew up the Borg cube.”
“Oh right!” Trinity exclaimed, recalling the episode.
“What the hell does that mean?” Applegate asked.
Tara smiled. “He means we sneak in through the less-protected systems and deploy our malicious, self-replicating code along the way to force the doors open from the inside,” Tara said, clapping her hands. “It’s brilliant. So much more…sophisticated than a brute-force attack.”
“We shouldn’t be doing anything that obvious,” David said. “Remember, we don’t want anyone to notice us snooping around their non-existent networks.”
Potter shook his head. “Why is it that at the end of the day, the geeks rule the world?”
Ron spoke up. “Well, as Bill Gates said, ‘Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.’”
They laughed briefly.
“Great, so that gets us inside their data, but we need to get inside that building and study it,” Chief Applegate commented.
“Any ideas?” Blue Spekter asked.
“Actually, I have one,” Agent Potter said, glancing at the chief.
She nodded.
“When Chief Applegate told me you asked to go
on the news, I naturally though it was ludicrous. However, I slept on it and came up with a nasty little infiltration operation for our friends in the prison buildings on Seavey Island—one I hope will catch Victor Kraze off-guard.”
“I’m all ears,” Blue Spekter said, leaning forward.
Agent Potter sat forward and gestured as he spoke. “The plan is to infiltrate the prison using a high-profile, high-security interview as a distraction.”
Eyebrows furled with interest as heads nodded.
“We’ll announce an interview between Blue Spekter and Camilla Brenhurst that will sufficiently mislead Victor, Dark Flame, and The Order. We’ll withhold the exact location and craft some believable story about holding the interview in a secure location to discourage the public from attending because of numerous threats or an inability to provide sufficient safety. In truth, the whole thing will be a charade—”
“Like the hostage situation you used against me?” Blue Spekter asked, frowning.
Agent Potter paused, then nodded. “Um, yes…exactly. You already know first-hand it’s a convincing trick.”
“Uh-huh,” Blue Spekter replied.
“Continue,” Chief Applegate said, frowning at Blue Spekter.
“The fake interview will be held in the baseball field on Seavey Island, specifically in the outfield so it’s closer to the prison buildings. With the joint support of the Navy and the Marines—both of whom are en-route—we’ll fill the island with armed military personnel and surround the prison. The Order’s small militia will be forced to retreat into the buildings to avoid detection since they aren’t supposed to be there. We’ve been monitoring the island from above with satellites and we don’t believe they have enough personnel to withstand a surprise assault and our numbers will more than triple what we’ve been able to count, even with their increased security details. So, when they least expect it, we’ll simultaneously storm each building. We’ll need you to draw out what’s it’s like inside since you’ve been in at least twice.”
Ultimate Sacrifice Page 10