Greenhaus:Storm

by Reckelhoff, Bryan

  “You seemed so upset when I asked. I didn’t understand why,” Ren said.

  “Guilt,” he answered. “Because I played a part, a big part, in all of this. I was involved in the planning and the design of the Greenhaus system. I was lead engineer on the levee project. Then, I fought in the Final War that ravished the planet. The planet was so beautiful before then. I ended up on the winning side, but when I started to question the way we were doing things, I was captured and frozen, likely for centuries. All dissidents were. Kept that way until they believed my talents could be utilized.”

  “They?” inquired Ren.

  “The Shield,” was Niles’ simple response. “Well, at least that is what they called themselves back then. We have no idea if they still exist. They claimed to stand for the good of all, and that they were saving the planet and the people on it. But just like the economies of Old Earth, very few reap the rewards of the system they have created. I don’t think it was a chain reaction of events that got us here. I think The Shield had a goal to achieve and started the Final War. These projects were built to protect them in the aftermath of the war. They knew the environmental collapse was imminent and wanted to eliminate as many people, including some of their own citizens, to reduce the threat to their new systems from the Outside. Best way to do all of that is start and war and further poison and already sick planet.”

  “So all of this was planned? Why would anyone want to cause so much suffering to so many?”

  “That I can’t answer. When the Final War ended, I certainly did not feel like I had won anything. Billions of innocents were dead all across the globe, and those who survived wished they hadn’t, unless they were in the group of chosen ones.”

  “What started the war?” Ren asked.

  “It’s a war that has always been fought, a war of man’s greed that stretches back to the beginning of time. The first cavemen fought over food and territory. The tension has been building ever since. All the nations of the world were involved, whether they wanted to be or not. It was a race for the planet’s resources, which we ironically burned up fighting over them. In the end it was not who we fought, but what. Mother Earth had become enraged with mankind over her poor treatment. Increased radioactivity from our weapons caused tumultuous conditions. Violent storms raged. Sea levels rose. The Shield was an international committee formed to combat the damage mankind had already done to Mother Earth and reverse the process of climate change. Once they figured out a solution, they began building. At the same time, they were using their considerable clout around the globe to escalate tensions and create more conflict, distracting people from what they were building. Instead of trying to save the planet, The Shield made things worse. I felt used, as did so many others. Pawns in a game, no different from those on the Inside now. History has a funny way of repeating itself for those who don’t recognize the patterns.”

  “Why don’t you tell them what you know, instead of keeping everyone in the dark?” Ren asked. “It might make the task a little easier.”

  “Only chaos will come from that. I don’t think our village could handle the truth, knowing what I did so long ago. Plus we don’t know where ‘they’ are anymore. The Shield may have started it all, but the power may have shifted since then and someone else even more sinister could be in power. Besides, it doesn’t matter who created all of this. What matters is finding who is pulling the strings now,” Niles explained. “That is what we need to be focused on.”

  “Makes sense,” Ren replied. “But you still didn’t tell me why they built the levee on only one side.”

  “We built several barriers around the country to control the rising water levels, the levee being one of them. Water is a powerful force—and unpredictable. The leaders wanted permanent barriers, caring little for the effect it had on the ecosystem. They were building new colonies, the first being the New St. Louis Greenhaus.” Niles said. “The levee became the new continental divide. It caused the river to shift course and grow wider, wiping entire cities off the map. Science can only theorize in matters concerning Mother Earth. She has a fury all her own, which is why we must show her the utmost respect with our simple living and prayers.”

  Jasper and Chaz, a brown-skinned man with pockmarks covering his face, interrupted their conversation. “Quickly, we have to hide. Two ATVs just entered the Oasis. It could be trouble.”

  They seemed adamant about moving to safety, but Niles had other plans. He stared blankly toward the entrance to the forest. His face lit up. “I’m not hiding. I’m investigating,” Niles said as he turned from the group and headed for the forest’s edge.

  “Chaz, gather up the rest of the group and drag the wood back to Hope. The three of us will return shortly,” Jasper said.

  As the trio moved toward the entrance, Niles continued to give Ren the background of The Shield and how New Earth was formed. The conversation halted once again at the sound of a familiar voice. The pace picked up as Niles sprinted ahead. Ren and Jasper gave chase.

  Chapter 45 (Hazel Storm)

  Another change in her life. Another change in her name.

  Her birth name, Ella Wind, came first. Ella Stone followed, which changed to Ella Storm, then Samantha Needles, and now Hazel Storm.

  She would always be Ella Storm to those in her past life, but to those she would meet in her new one, she would be Hazel. It was a fresh start for her; an escape from a fate she was reluctant to accept, and a change of scenery that she sorely needed.

  In her new world, there was no one to learn her old names. On the other side of the coin, there was no one from her old life to learn her new name. As far as she knew, none of her camp had survived the attack on New St. Louis. Each name change was prompted by a drastic change in her life. Some voluntary, others handed to her, some forced on her. Hazel Storm was her favorite, partly because Jacob had given half of it to her. She hoped this name would stick for a while.

  The upper forest stayed dry, even when the water came in, so she slept there most nights. Once the water receded, Hazel feasted on the life left behind in the surrounding pools, amazed that so much water could disappear, often wondering where it went.

  One day, she planned to follow the water, just to see what else was out there. For now, the solitude satisfied her. With plenty of food and no one to bother her, Hazel could not imagine going back Inside to the many rules and restrictions governing her life. Neither could she see herself as part of a Masked camp, with so many other people to consider, to feed, to either govern or be governed by. Solitude. This is the life. Avoid the Insiders and stay fed. It didn’t get much simpler than that. Her easy day was interrupted by a familiar noise, one that perked up all of her senses.

  Hazel heard the distant din of the Insiders on their four-wheel apparatuses and hid, as she always did when they approached. Jacob had come back several times, and his search teams looked high and low, yelling, screaming, calling out to her.

  Usually, retreating deep into the woods was enough to elude him and the others that ventured away from Newer Orleans. In other instances she had taken to the treetops, or crawled into whatever crevasse she could squeeze into. In every instance, silence kept her safe.

  Those who came from the Inside rarely went any further than the carved head of her old friend Niles, like they were scared of falling in love with all the Outside had to offer. After securing a safe distance between her and the visitors to the Oasis, she liked to creep back closer to eavesdrop, and to see if Jacob was among those visiting, hoping to get a look at the source of her infatuation. As she approached, she recognized both voices and listened while they argued.

  “You were careless Jacob, you lost your focus. Again. You aren’t cut out for this,” Lorelei scolded him.

  “The same thing could have happened to you. I thought about doing it myself one of the hundred times you pissed me off. What would you have done then?”

  “You couldn’t have done that to me. I never turn my back on anyone, ever. I never lose
focus,” she informed him. “This is bad Jacob. Really bad. People will start looking around when she can’t be found. She has a check-in with Medical tonight. They will know she made it to Decon. That you were her patient, and she never left. Fingers will be pointed, the tunnels could be found. The Whisperers don’t need this trouble. Innocent people will pay a price for this. It won’t take long for them to figure out there is no glitch. We must find her and bring her back.” The worry evident on her face was genuine.

  Their incessant arguing continued as Hazel hid among some thickets. Her concentration was broken as she heard voices coming from the rear. The Insiders sneaked behind me, but how? I only heard the two of them approach. Damn, now I’m trapped. Fear gripped her, just as it had so long ago as she crouched outside the glass of another Haus. Instead of panicking or freezing in her tracks like she had then, she began to formulate her escape. Those coming from behind her were getting closer, so Hazel crouched lower and watched.

  At least three voices belonged to that group, but the volume level of their voices made it clear they believed themselves alone in the woods. They were much too loud to sneak up on anyone. Her safe zone was shrinking as the larger group closed in on her position. Twigs snapped underfoot and leaves were rustling louder with every step as they approached. Hazel lay flat in the undergrowth, hoping the two groups would intersect, confirm that neither group had found their target, and then return to the Inside.

  As the approaching group made it into the clearance near her, she stared at them. A sudden wave of excitement overcame her and she blurted out, “Niles,” before instantly covering her mouth. The noise startled the group, stopping them in their tracks, as well as halting the conversation of Jacob and Lorelei.

  “Did you hear that?” Hazel heard Jacob ask Lorelei.

  “I sure did. I think we may have found our prodigal friend,” she replied, heading in the general direction of Hazel’s voice.

  Hazel did her best to remain in hiding, but it was too late. Both groups heard her and were searching for the voice. She knew she was trapped, so she elected to give herself up, hoping one group would save her from the other.

  “Niles, over here,” she called out to her old friend from the Storm Camp.

  Jacob and Lorelei approached her first, unaware of the presence of the second group, “Grab her, Jacob. Take her back to the ‘Haus, and this all goes away,” Lorelei instructed.

  Jacob ignored the command and instead began interrogating Hazel, “Why?” he yelled. “Do you know how much trouble I could have been in, had she not come up with a plan?” Jacob asked as he pointed to Lorelei. “An innocent man lost his life over all of this.”

  Innocent? I think not. I doubt many of you are innocent. You are all complicit in the evils of the ‘Haus, either by knowingly participating in them or blindly ignoring all that is happening. Hazel remained silent, refusing to answer any of his questions as she heard the pace of the larger approaching group pick up and come rushing toward the sound of their voices. She did respond to his last statement. “If he was an Insider and a Medic to boot, then I doubt he was innocent of anything. He was there to help me reset you, after all.”

  It wasn’t long before Niles, Jasper, and Ren entered the clearing, startling Jacob and Lorelei. There was stunned silence and an exchange of shocked glances.

  “Dad? Jasper?” cried Jacob, not believing his own eyes.

  Simultaneously Niles gasped out, “Son? Sarah?”

  More silence followed while everyone sorted out what they were seeing. Lorelei looked squeamish. Jacob was confused.

  The quiet was broken as Jacob asked his father, “Sarah? Who is Sarah?”

  “She is, the double-crossing wench,” responded Niles, pointing to Lorelei. “Sarah Dune was my first recruit and the last person I saw before I woke up out here, but her hair was a different color then. It was red.”

  “When I recruited her, her name was Sylvia Watts,” Jasper added.

  “Oh this is getting good, wouldn’t you say, Lorelei Needles?” Hazel said. “Yep, that’s right. She claims to be daughter of the one and only Percival Needles. Looks like someone has some explaining to do.”

  Jacob turned to Lorelei. “Hmmm, this certainly explains a lot. The missing agents, the mole in the Whisperers, the wigs I found…it’s all coming into focus,” Jacob thought. “Sounds like someone has quite a bit of explaining to do, Sarah Dune, Lorelei Needles, or Sylvia Watts, whatever your name is.”

  Lorelei pushed Jacob aside and made a run for the ATV. She hopped on and started to accelerate, but Hazel’s flying tackle separated Lorelei from her seat, and a brief struggle ensued.

  Lorelei gained the upper hand until Ren helped Hazel overpower her. They pinned her down as the three men encircled them.

  “Start talking,” ordered Jacob.

  “I have nothing to say.” Lorelei responded defiantly as she laughed off his command.

  A swift boot from Jacob caught Lorelei in the mouth, knocking out two teeth and splitting her lip. A lifetime of accumulated and repressed sadness and anger erupted, showing that Jacob, too, had a dark side. Hazel smiled at Jacob’s uncharacteristic aggression as Lorelei groaned and applied pressure to her bleeding mouth. The rest of the group gasped.

  “Wrong answer, try again,” Jacob said as he buried another kick in her midsection, emptying her lungs. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted. If you ever want to see the Inside again, you better start talking.”

  “Never,” she grunted, wiping blood from her mouth, then spitting. “You can’t go back in without me, you know that.”

  “You don’t know as much as you think you do. At one point you had all the knowledge and I was just some dumb recruit. But things have changed. While I still have a lot to learn, there is plenty that you don’t know. I suspected this day might come, that something like this would happen. I have a plan. I just need to get back to New St. Louis. Once I’m there and reveal what I know, Doyle will keep me safe.”

  “You’ll never make it out of Decon. You’ve already dodged one reset and they will be waiting for you,” the Lady in Red responded.

  “I won’t have to. Like I said, I have a plan. Been setting up my escape and working with others for some time now. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll start talking.”

  “Never,” she repeated as she flashed a toothless, bloody smile. “I’m untouchable.”

  Never was a long time away; in reality, a time that wouldn’t come. But Lorelei’s never came sooner than she expected. And untouchable she most certainly was not. An hour of torture left her ragged, spilling her guts about everything. Her acting as a double agent; the mind control and breeding programs of Medical; the underground lab where the experiments were taking place, contained in six subterranean zones hidden beneath Medical’s HQ. But her last revelation was the one that sealed her fate.

  This revelation that she, under the alias Sarah Dune, a Med Tech, helped staged the death of so many, including Harvard Niles.

  Jacob snapped. In an instant he was on top of Lorelei with his hands around her throat, bashing her head into the ground. Niles and Jasper tried their best, but they could not break Jacob’s grasp. Ren and Hazel pulled the men off Jacob and kept them away, while Lorelei struggled to escape. Her hands clutched his, but could not pry his fingers away. The woman’s face turned red and the vein in the middle of her forehead bulged. Her legs flailed about as Jacob tightened his grip. She squirmed but couldn’t toss him off. Her punches and scratches weren’t enough to break his grip.

  As quickly as it all started, Lorelei’s legs stopped moving and her arms went limp. Her head rolled to the side, eyes frozen in the death stare. Hazel danced around gleefully, giving Jacob words of encouragement. His fit of rage was over, and Lorelei lay motionless in the middle of the circle. The rest of her secrets had died with her.

  Realizing what he had done, Jacob scrabbled backward off the lifeless double agent, the mole that had caused so much strife and cost so many their lives over
the years. His head rested heavily in his hands and shook slightly back and forth. In this moment, Jacob came to understand why certain emotions were suppressed and why those who ran the ‘Haus kept everyone so busy.

  “Jacob, you have done a very bad thing,” Niles said as he and Jasper rushed to the victim.

  “It had to be done,” Jacob replied. “She was pure evil.”

  Hazel couldn’t disagree more with Niles’ statement. She thought Jacob did a good thing, in fact a very good thing. A smirk crossed her face as she spat at the lifeless body. The warm, fuzzy feeling she had felt when she first gazed into Jacob’s eyes returned. Judging by the looks on everyone else’s faces, none shared her enthusiasm for the recent events, including Jacob himself.

  Chapter 46 (Jacob Niles)

  After a long pause from the shock of what he had done, Jacob finally stood, jaw agape at the sight of his former mentor. The agent that trained him in the way of the Whisperers also worked for the other side. Now she lay lifeless.

  Niles felt for a pulse.

  “Well?” Jasper asked.

  Niles said nothing, just looked up at Jasper before lowering his head.

  “Hazel, you should come with me,” Jacob said.

  “No,” Niles said. “She stays with us. And call her by her correct name, Ella Storm. This is where she belongs and you should stay, too.”

  “I can’t stay,” Jacob responded. “Your legacy is at stake, the Whisperers—-we are so close to cracking this case, I can’t give up now.”

  “But Jacob, you know they are looking to reset you,” Ella responded.

  “Sylvia fixed all that, the trouble is gone,” Jacob said.

  “She made it go away because they needed you, to get more information about our organization. But if Sylvia is now also missing, you have no shield to protect you,” Niles informed him.