Termination

by J C Ryan

  Everyone turned their gazes at this woman. She had touched on something significant that none of them had considered.

  Dennis looked at Linkola, Siasha, Korda, Deszik, and Robert questioningly.

  The five of them moved closer to each other and conferred in a whispered tone for a few minutes, while everyone else watched in silence.

  Finally, Linkola spoke. “No, they’re not. We’re in agreement. Our experience since encountering you people from the Eleventh Cycle, has been that your intelligence is not inferior to ours or the Re’an’s. Our Eighth Cycle technology might be superior to yours, but over the last few days, you have proven that you are intelligent enough to quickly grasp the technology and overcome it. As far as we are concerned, your intelligence matches ours.”

  “Well, if that’s the case,” the former CIA agent said, “then that’s what we will have to use to level the playing field—outsmart them.”

  “Now we’re cookin’ with gas,” the Dallas guy said in his deep baritone voice, eliciting another round of laughs.

  Dennis smiled and nodded. “Thanks for that Tracey, you’ve certainly nailed it with that insight. We’ve been blinded by their physique and weapons and forgot the biblical account of David, the shepherd boy, who went up against Goliath. The giant was protected from head to toe in body armor and had superior weapons in his hands yet got defeated by a single stone propelled from a simple slingshot.”

  “Yep, one shot right between the eyes,” said the team leader from Memphis, Tennessee, a former Navy fighter pilot, a woman with dark hair and deep brown eyes. “Come to think of it, we’re one-hundred percent better off than David. We have two vulnerable spots where we can hit them—left or right eye.”

  “Now there’s an attitude that I like,” responded the Dallas guy with the opera voice again, to the amusement of everyone else.

  When the laughter subsided, Dennis continued. “So far we have a few things going for us. One, they don’t know that we know they’re here and will be watching them. So, we will pick the time and place where we want to engage them. In other words, the element of surprise. Two, we know the terrain where we’re going to do battle better than they do. And finally, these guys are semi-robots and probably rely heavily on very detailed orders and their enhanced body features to give them the upper hand. Therefore, they won’t be as agile as we are to adapt to changing circumstances – we can outwit them.”

  Deszik motioned for Dennis to have a quick word in private.

  * * *

  DENNIS, ERIC, AND the others at the canyon site had agreed prior to the meeting not to disclose the fact that Deszik was a Re’an soldier who switched allegiance. There was not enough time to deal with a new round of trust issues, especially not in a group as big as this one. Deszik would attend the meeting but only listen and remain quiet. Therefore, he was introduced as one of the Eighth Cycle group who lived at the canyon site. It was also agreed that no mention would be made of Deszik’s group of twenty-four Re’an who’d been ambushed and killed three days before.

  Dennis realized Deszik must have had something important to say. He asked Eric, his second in command, to take over the meeting while he and Deszik went out into the hallway.

  Deszik told Dennis that they were on the right track with their thinking about the Re’an soldiers’ lack of agility. That the Re’an operated on very elaborate orders, almost as if they are programmed, and therein lay the potential solution. In other words, they needed to devise a plan that would require the Re’an to operate outside the parameters of their original orders. With the Tunguska site demolished and the link between the control computers and the soldiers severed, they would individually attempt to complete their mission. As a group, they would quickly be in chaos if they were unable to get new orders when their circumstances changed.

  “The seven-hundred and fifty were sent on their respective missions to attack and destroy all hospitals, old age, and nursing homes. They were to purge those cities of everyone who would be unfit to be reanimated as Re’an. That was the first stage of the plan after which they had to wait for the stage two orders,” Deszik explained.

  “And as you know, once the canyon site was secured and The Beast reactivated, Viktor planned to start awakening the people in deep sleep in the twelve other sites across the globe, implant them with the Re’an chips, and commence his quest to take control of the world.”

  Dennis nodded. “Well, thankfully that part of his plan will not come to fruition.”

  “Indeed, but he doesn’t know that yet. He still thinks we have control of the canyon site and The Beast will be found and be operational soon.”

  “So, this means if your mother and her associates are successful in destroying the Tunguska site and killing everyone inside, including Viktor, we have the seven-hundred and fifty Re’an here in America practically isolated?”

  “Exactly. But make no mistake, they will soon start to execute their current orders, and they will cause immense damage and loss of life. They are merciless, it has been programmed into their chips. We have to find a way to throw them off balance; that might be the only opportunity to stop them.”

  * * *

  WHEN THEY RETURNED to the meeting, Eric brought Dennis up to speed with the discussion that took place while he and Deszik were out.

  Dennis then said, “I think there are still a lot of questions and ideas, but before we continue with that, I think maybe this is a good time to ask who wants to be in or out of this operation? Hands up those who are staying.”

  There was a brief silence and then all hands went up. There was not a single one who wanted out.

  Dennis and Eric looked at each other and smiled. They were a bit surprised, but not much; this was what they’ve come to expect of the Tectus members. Most of them were former military where they’d learned to never shy away from their duty to defend and protect.

  “Thanks everyone,” Dennis said. “I’m humbled by your commitment, and it’s an honor to be part of this group.

  “I’m sending you each information on the assigned locations of the soldiers in your individual cities. They are already there.

  “Prepare your teams and start your surveillance, but don’t interfere with them yet. I am relocating to Phoenix. I want each of you to choose five of your members including yourself, to meet me in Phoenix tomorrow. I will send the location to you after the meeting. The plan is to introduce you to the new weapons we’re going to use and provide you with training. After that, we’ll sit down and work out a strategy to take these terrorists out.”

  CHAPTER 47

  Video conference

  WHEN THE MEETING ended, and the video feeds had been severed, Dennis asked JR to establish a video conference with Daniel, Salome, and the leadership group at the Rabbit Hole so they could be given an update.

  A few minutes later, Dennis welcomed them to the call and proceeded to give an overview of the meeting with the Tectus leadership group.

  “Tectus is in, boots and all. I take it we don’t have to belabor the point about the danger facing these men and women?”

  “No need for that Dennis,” Daniel said. “I think all of us understand the risks your people are prepared to take. As far as I’m concerned, and I think without fear of dissent from any one of us here, it was inspiring to see the motivation and determination of the Tectus group.”

  Dennis and Eric both nodded.

  Dennis turned to Raj and Roy. “Guys, I hate to state the obvious, but as you can see, we can really do with a bit of help from the technical side.”

  Raj said, “We’re working on an idea to access these soldiers’ individual chips to send them a message that would order them to disperse into smaller teams or even one-man outfits. That way your attack teams don’t have to face a large group."

  “That’ll certainly go a long way to minimize risk for us,” Eric said.

  “But will you still be able to do it if the Tunguska site and the control computers are destroyed?” Daniel a
sked.

  “No, not with the current setup. I’m trying to take over the functions of the control computers at Tunguska and transfer them to our computers here but have not been able to do so yet. We still have a bit of time before Deszik’s mother blows up the site. I hope for a breakthrough before then.”

  “That would make things a lot simpler,” Roy said.

  “Damn, this is so complicated,” JR said. “Too bad we can’t just knock them all out in one go, turn them to ashes, and sweep it up with vacuum cleaners. But I guess that’d be too easy. We’ll have to kill them the old-fashioned way, a bullet to the head, or in this case, a laser beam through the eye.”

  Seeing the meeting was drawing to an end, Daniel asked Dennis to pass along his thanks to the Tectus members for their commitment.

  As Dennis closed the connection, Roy, seated on a nearby table, suddenly sat up straight and froze, his eyes unfocused, far away as if in another world.

  “Roy?” Dennis asked when he saw Roy’s sudden movement.

  When Roy didn’t respond, Dennis and several of the others became concerned and started calling his name.

  His eyes remained unfocused, and he still didn’t respond.

  Korda said, “Hey all, stop talking. Roy’s on to something.”

  After nearly a minute, Roy’s eyes focused once more, he hopped down from the table. “I need to think,” he mumbled and stepped into the hallway.

  “Don’t mind us, Roy,” JR shouted. “You can let us in on your plan any time!”

  Everyone who had known Roy for a while knew that he meant no offense. Usually, when he started acting like that, he was onto something big. Often, in the past, behavior like this produced the solution to their problems. They knew all they had to do was wait for him to work through it and he would tell them.

  CHAPTER 48

  Eighth Cycle Site, Grand Canyon, USA

  ROBERT FOUND HIMSELF escaping to the Oasis for some quiet time. The Tectus teams were all being arranged, and the Eighth Cycle weapons had been packed for the trip to Phoenix. Dennis and Eric had departed near midnight. In the lab, Raj was working furiously on codes to send to the soldier’s chips to make them disperse, while Roy studied the Re’an information yet again, looking for answers to ideas he was not ready to discuss with anyone yet.

  For now, the only feasible option was the idea of splitting the soldiers off and eliminating them one at a time. It remained the most efficient way to deal with the threat of discovery… if Raj could gain access to the computers. It was a monumental task, but Raj assured them he would not give up until the Tunguska site was destroyed and he could no longer access the control computers.

  Reaching the door to the secluded sanctuary, Robert opened it and stepped inside. Making his way to the shore, he wandered the edge enjoying the moonlight playing on the water.

  His thoughts turned to Siasha and how he’d treated her when she asked for Deszik to be spared. He didn’t like to admit it, but she was right; he had let his hatred of the B’ran cloud his judgment.

  He had yelled at her, and he could feel Tawndo’s anger over it. Having calmed down, he now had to admit to himself that he felt ashamed about it. He had been raised to respect others, and he knew he had treated her with disrespect.

  His stomach clenched and his jaw tightened.

  I’m not going to apologize.

  I’m not going to care about her feelings.

  He continued arguing with himself as he walked.

  Growing tired, he finally returned to the doorway. Just as he reached to open it, the door slid aside, and there stood Siasha.

  The emotional pain burned in her chest; the hurt rose in her throat. Recognizing the anger in his eyes, she glared at him.

  As he moved to step past her, she called, “Robert! Please… wait.”

  He stopped and turned to face her but said nothing.

  “I… I want to thank you… thank you for sparing Deszik’s life.”

  “You’re welcome,” he replied stiffly, then added a little softer, “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

  Why am I apologizing? I wasn’t going to!

  They stood in the doorway staring at one another for a long moment before Siasha said, “You’re forgiven… and I’m sorry I called you by the wrong name and for the cruel things I said.”

  The silence lasted so long this time that Siasha thought he wasn’t going to speak again.

  “You… were right… I was blinded by my hate,” Robert finally admitted.

  Get a grip on yourself… you’re losing it, man!

  Again, the silence hung heavily between them. Robert felt a longing to take her in his arms but remained frozen. “Well, I’m glad we got that cleared up,” he finally said. “I was just heading for bed. Good night.”

  For a moment she thought he might touch her and was surprised to find herself a little disappointed when he turned to walk away. “Good night,” she replied to his retreating form.

  Entering the Oasis, she found her and Tawndo’s favorite spot and sat down to sort out her raging emotions.

  CHAPTER 49

  Re'an headquarters Tunguska, Russia

  VIKTOR PACED THE living room under Telestra’s watchful eyes. It had been a day since his last contact with Deszik. Something wasn’t right – he could feel it. He was sure that Deszik had planned to betray him – would have bet on it, yet the boy had proven himself more a soldier than Viktor would have expected.

  Perhaps getting him away from his mother and giving him responsibility has changed him.

  “Would you stop pacing? You’re disturbing me,” Telestra complained.

  “Oh, shut up and go somewhere else if you don’t like it,” he snapped and continued pacing, still unable to ignore the feeling that something was very wrong. He had tried several times to reach Deszik again but to no avail. His agitation mounted by the minute. Suddenly, a call came through the intercom.

  “Sir?” a voice queried.

  “Viktor here; what is it?”

  “Sir, there is a problem in the pod chamber. Could you come down here please?”

  “What kind of problem?”

  “S… sir, several of the soldiers have… died, sir.”

  Viktor frowned and glared at Telestra.

  “I’m on my way,” he said.

  As Viktor left the room, Telestra contacted Dekka.

  Dekka, it’s begun!

  I know. I’m in the pod room.

  I’ll alert the others.

  Thank you. Tellek is here with me, and Baynor and Naamin have been sent for.

  I’ll contact Rauel and Jezza.

  Be careful, Telestra!

  You too!

  Telestra broke the link and left her quarters in search of her two contacts.

  CHAPTER 50

  Phoenix, Arizona, USA

  AT AN ABANDONED military site East of Phoenix, Eric, dressed in desert pattern fatigues, placed the last eighth-cycle weapon on the table before him.

  As he viewed the seven rows of white, portable tables on either side of the center aisle, he imagined the reactions of the Tectus soldiers to the unfamiliar technology.

  Each position held two weapons; one, a small cylinder, silver and black in color and about an inch in diameter. It was a weapon for use in close quarters. The second, larger weapon resembled a square-handled, short cane more than anything else. The deceptively elegant weapon held its lethal power in a black casing accented in silver. This was a long-range weapon.

  Satisfied with the setup, Eric stepped into the hallway securing the door behind him. The short walk to the common room where the others were gathered gave him a chance to marvel once again at the fortune of having such a place available to them.

  The 3,500 acres of desert had been purchased years ago by a local Tectus member, who made it available to the local cell. Few people knew it existed, and as most of the facility was underground, it provided a perfect, hidden base of operation and training for Tectus.

  The common room
hummed loudly with the voices of the assembled Tectus members.

  “Dennis,” he said approaching his leader. “Just how are our people going to get these weapons aboard commercial aircraft with security the way it is?”

  Dennis grinned. “TSA won’t know what they’re looking at. Besides, our people will be traveling as air marshals and as such will be authorized to carry concealed weapons.”

  “Excellent!” Eric said. “How soon can we get started?”

  “Just as soon as everyone is here. We’re just waiting on two more people; and here they are,” he said as a local Tectus member escorted two people into the room.

  Dennis gave them a few minutes to get acquainted before inviting the one-hundred and twenty-five guests to join him in the spacious classroom.

  As they entered, Dennis instructed them not to touch the items on the table until told to do so. Eric, filing in behind them, was not disappointed as he watched their reactions to the weapons.

  Dennis began. “We’re going to put you through a few quick training sessions so that you can go back to your cities and train the rest of your teams. We have enough of these weapons to arm every member of your teams.

  “These innocent looking items you see on the table before you are advanced technology weapons.”

  Several eyebrows shot up, and many looks of surprise and doubt showed on the faces before him.

  “I don’t have time to go into the details of where they came from. Consider them to be beyond-top-secret and discuss them with no one except the members of your cell that you will train.”

  He paused to see nods of agreement from the participants.

  “First, I’m going to tell you about these weapons, what they are capable of, and how to use them. Afterward, we’ll go to the range for practice. Any questions?”