by Jedi Reach
“You sure about this?” Aiden asked Jace who was in another booth nearby.
“We have to try.” the Nova Leader responded while he zipped up his suit.
Each of them, including Scott, stepped out of their booths and looked at each other for certainty, especially at Jace. The Nova Leader was sure this was the only way. His confidence convinced the rest of the crew.
“Alright folks, you ready?” Scott moved to a door in front of them. To his side, an observatory glass that peered into a completely white room became visible. To the far end of the room was an infected soldier, strapped and restrained to the wall.
“Let’s do this.” Jace said and placed the hazmat helmet over his head. The rest of the crew followed suit. Scott pressed a couple buttons on the holographic interface attached to the door and it opened. The team entered the room slowly and closed the door behind them.
“Lose the binds.” Jace said to his comms.
Scott held his hand forward and tinkered with his wrist gadgetry. The infected soldier lost his binds and fell to the floor. He gradually rose to his feet and as he did, black goo surrounded his body to the point where he became a copy of Adron himself.
“Mother of god.” a scientist said in the previous room, sweat dripping down his forehead as he watched. The guards weren’t much different either. They were drenched with worry, wondering what would happen next.
Royce, Jace thought to himself.
It pained the Nova Leader to see one of his men like this.
“Remember, don’t kill him.” Jace said.
Royce convulsed and the virol sprouted long-reaching arms from the soldier’s back that hurled at the crew. Xenia telekinetically pushed the men and herself a safe distance apart to avoid the attack.
“Aiden!” Jace said as he stretched his hand at Royce and locked him in a psychic stasis. The Viking charged at the paralyzed Royce and speared him into the wall then flipped the infected soldier overhead and slammed him on the ground.
“Xenia, now!” Jace called.
Xenia’s eyes lit up as she held her hands toward Royce, calling upon her psychokinesis. Aiden and Jace struggled to keep Royce contained, one man using his physical strength to keep the brute down while the other, his mind. Royce began spazzing out and screaming as Xenia telekinetically ripped the virol out of his body.
“Scott get ready!” Jace shouted.
“Got it!” Scott nodded.
The Engineer grabbed a big glass sphere and entered the room. Royce grabbed Aiden by the throat and started choking him. Aiden was amazed by Royce’s strength under the infection more than he feared for his own safety. He did his best to restrain the infected soldier, but the clock was ticking.
Xenia telekinetically wrenched the virol completely out of Royce’s body and flung the organic matter into Scott’s glass sphere. Royce immediately calmed down, only for the team to realize his vitals were sharply declining.
“Medic!” Jace called.
The entrance door opened and multiple men in hazmat suits rushed in to collect Royce and take him away. As they did, Scott, Aiden, Xenia and Jace observed the glass sphere. The virol was locked inside, but it danced around as if it were controlled by another force.
“Holy shit.” Aiden blurted out loud.
**************
Site X was at work for several hours trying to figure out what to do with the extracted virol. It seemed the outbreak was getting worse. Royce survived long enough for an extraction of the virus to occur, but other infected soldiers were dying left and right. What everyone agreed on was the fact that they needed to come up with a cure before doing anything else. Jace, Xenia and Aiden stayed in the facility, observing Scott at work with the rest of his scientists. It was a tense period. Site X’s scientists were the best money could buy and yet they weren’t even sure what they were dealing with.
“Do you think it’s contagious? Like it could get in the air?” Aiden asked the Nova Leaders while the three of them peered through the observatory glass watching Scott and the rest of his scientists in hazmat suits study the glass sphere.
“No,” Xenia abruptly answered. “The virol doesn’t act like that. There’s an intentional intelligence behind it.”
“Intelligence? Shouldn’t Scott know that?” Aiden asked Xenia.
“He does, but he’s not certain to what extent. He will find out soon.” Xenia replied.
“Xenia it isn’t the time to withhold information.” Aiden glanced at her.
“I’m not, I’m recalling what I know from my federation’s sciences. It’s been a long time. The mutation may have changed. It’s better I stay quiet and wait to find out what he will discover.”
Aiden shook his head then nodded upon further reflection on her words.
“Phew.” Scott entered the room, closed the door behind him and took a seat. He unfastened his helmet and took a breather.
“Scan complete, no harmful toxins found.” the computer overhead said.
“What’d you find?” Jace moved closer to him and asked.
“Well, that’s something I want to discuss. Especially with you Xenia.” Scott eyed the alien.
“I expected as much.” Xenia replied.
“Right,” Scott moved to his computer terminal expecting the rest of the crew to follow while he loaded digital documents displaying his findings. “It’s alive. I mean, yeah, obviously, viruses are alive – but what I mean is there’s a distinct intelligence to the mechanism of this entity that operates in two separate units as one. Xenia, did you know about this?”
“I was aware the virol contained a selective intelligence that inhabited hosts according to its directive, though beyond that, this field of science I did not study in great detail. Nevertheless, if you share your findings, I’m sure we can collaborate to figure it out.”
“Gotcha’,” Scott maneuvered through his computer to show more details. “It’s like there’s some kind of remote access, similar to wirelessly linked machines – the virus is communicating outside the individual pieces.”
“Hive-mind?” Jace questioned.
“We’re not sure. All we know is that there’s some form of a sender and receiver, and the infected we have here, are on the receiving end.” Scott said.
Jace scratched his chin while Xenia thought on Scott’s words very carefully.
What the hell does that mean? Aiden shook his head.
“Is it possible there’s outside influence controlling what’s happening here? Like some sort of master node?” Jace asked.
“My question as well.” Xenia affirmed.
“It’s possible, but who or what?” Scott retorted.
Jace’s phone started ringing.
“Stone?” Jace answered.
“Jace, I think the two of us should talk. Alone. Meet me in the briefing room.” Stone said on the other line before hanging up.
“That seemed serious.” Xenia said.
“I’ll be back soon. This needs to be handled.” Jace walked out of the room.
‘Xenia.’ a telepathic voice entered the alien’s head seconds later. ‘We need to talk.’
“I’ll be back as well.” Xenia said before leaving.
Scott and Aiden glanced at each other.
“What was that about?” Aiden said with folded arms.
“Don’t know.” Scott turned around and continued working on his computer. Aiden moved to the Engineer’s side and watched him work.
“Something on your mind Aiden?” Scott sensed the tension.
“Do you think we’re left in the dark?” Aiden asked.
Scott halted typing on his terminal and faced the Viking.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think there’s more Jace and Xenia know that they aren’t saying?”
“If I were to make a logical guess, yes, but that doesn’t mean they should be blabbermouths about it. Lives depend on what Jace and Xenia say or don’t say. That’s a lot of responsibility to have on your shoulders.�
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“Good answer.” Aiden looked at the door the two Nova Leaders departed, thinking over his time spent with them.
“What’s this about? Trust in them?” Scott pushed.
“No,” Aiden let down his guard and looked Scott in the eyes. “I trust Jace with my life and Xenia saved both our asses years ago, so I’m in debt to her too.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
Aiden sighed.
“I’m a Scion, I was designed to be a weapon, so when Jace came to me again and told me we had a job to do, my insides were craving to hop on board even though I was playing hard to get. I know the rules; live by the sword, die by the sword. I got no problem with dying in this line of work, it comes with the territory. But the real problem is if we fail this mission.”
“You think we’ll fail?” Scott questioned.
“I’ve traveled across the world, I’ve been in Iraq, I took down ISIS, I detained rogue Scions and I even met aliens. But I’ll tell you something. Adron and the virol, I’ve never seen anything like it. All I know is if we fail there’ll be no home for Scions to be free. It’ll be the same shit for people like us. They’ll be forced into being weapons all over again. Adron wins? Who cares? They don’t toss people like us, they enslave us.”
“Hmph!” Scott beamed. “It’s interesting to hear you have thoughts underneath that cold exterior.”
“Shut up! The reason I’m telling you this is because we’re a team and a team needs trust, each, and every one of us.” Aiden snapped.
“I understand and sure, it does make sense. All of us need to pull our weight. What did that have to do with Jace and Xenia keeping their secrets?”
Aiden folded his arms and smirked.
“I wanted to know what you thought about it. The wrong answer would’ve got your neck snapped.”
“Interesting. This is your way of testing trust and protecting your friends?”
“You could say that.”
“Aha!” Scott shook his head. “Rest assured Aiden, I’m a part of this just as much as you. You could say it was my doing that helped open the portal. I want to atone for that.”
“Please, I’m not looking for a pity party. I didn’t get guilted into doing this job because of Lea. I’m doing it because people like us need a better future than what Jace and I went through. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I want this to work.”
“A respectable goal. One I hope I can be a part of too.”
“You’d join us if we make it through this?”
Scott smiled warmly.
“My heart is in science. There’s nowhere else in the world I get to push science like I do here. Sure, we might make mistakes, but without mistakes there’s no progress. The only way forward is to try, and with you Scions, I’ve never gotten that push anywhere else at this rate. It’s not about money nor is it about power, it’s about something more. Jace fights for his people, and apparently, you do too. Now that’s something I can respect. To do what you do for the good of the people, and in your cases, the Scions? Then yeah, that’s something I can get behind if we get this job done.”
Aiden stretched his hand out for a handshake.
“Then let’s get this job done.” the Viking said.
Scott shook his hand.
“Agreed.” the Engineer replied.
**************
Jace entered the unlit briefing room alone and pressed a button on the desk in the middle of the room. Lights beamed from the table and a hologram of Stone appeared. The hologram appeared to be so realistic, it wouldn’t be distinguishable if the Doctor was there or not without knowledge of the technology.
“Hello Jace.” Stone greeted the Scion, blowing smoke to his side as if he were next to him.
“Stone.” Jace held his hands behind his lower back.
“How have things been on your end?” the Doctor asked.
“Progressing, and yours?” Jace replied.
“We have a little hiccup.” Stone puffed on his cigarette.
“What could that be?” Jace asked.
Stone eyed Jace like a hawk.
“Part of our recovery unit came under attack…” Stone pressed buttons at his terminal. A holographic interface popped up in the middle of the briefing room, displaying blurry pictures of Lars and his beamship in action. It was not very noticeable, nevertheless, Jace intuitively sensed the culprit. “…you wouldn’t happen to know anything about this would you, Jace?”
“No.” Jace answered.
“Something tells me you might.”
“Only guesses, but before I say anything more, I need to know that we’re alone.”
“We are.” Stone blew smoke.
“Good, because what I’m about to say shouldn’t leave this room. Not until you and I figured it out.”
“Okay. What is it?”
Jace took a good look at the pictures again.
“If I’m not mistaken, then that’s Lars. Xenia’s contact; the same one who helped us in the previous mission.”
“Hmmm,” Stone scratched his chin and stubbed his cigarette. “Any idea why he’d attack us if he helped us before?”
“I don’t know. Something tells me you might.”
Stone paused and thought well before relying.
“We recovered some of the virol on our end. While Site X had its share, we wanted to have our own for testing purposes.” the Doctor said.
“And the truth shall set you free. So, you were working on virol countermeasures yourself?” Jace asked.
“You could say that. You know we can’t afford to take chances. If option A fails, then B has to be ready.”
“I can only guess how far that ideology extends.”
“Guesses would be sufficient for now. You probably figured the rest already.”
“I probably did.”
“That’s why I chose you Jace. Not only do you understand, you’re also efficient. There was no one better suited for the task at hand and the responsibilities associated with it.”
“Really? Is that the only reason why?”
“No,” Stone took a good look at Jace, eye to eye. “The other is curiosity. Curiosity why you think the damned can still have so-called souls.”
“You and I are very similar. We’ve had history and we’ve also made mistakes.” Jace folded his arms.
“We have.” Stone observed Jace.
“Both of us are striving and pushing in our own fronts, and yet, we have to be the voice of reason in a sea of madness. It’s not something everyone can do. That’s why I’ve always respected you despite the circumstances.”
“A responsibility we must handle for the balance and continuation of the world. Without order, chaos ensues. One of us handles the dark, the other, light.”
“True.” Jace scratched his chin. “What do you think we’ve learned?”
“Many things. Many, many things. Especially being the calm in the storm.”
Jace smirked.
“It’s ironic,” Stone lit up another cigarette and took a hard drag. “An outsider becomes more trusted than any insider. An enemy becomes an ally; dare I even say, a friend.”
Jace simply watched Stone connect the dots.
“Still, neither of us can change the past Jace. You know that.”
“I’m not trying to change the past.”
“Then what are you trying to achieve?”
“Curiosity will be sufficient for now,” Jace unfolded his arms. “Let’s just say I believe in second chances, even for the damned.”
“Fair enough,” Stone blew smoke out of his nose while he pressed buttons at his terminal. “We’ll be in touch. See if you can find out anything from Xenia.”
Stone disappeared a second later.
“Adieu.” Jace said in darkness.
**************
“This is a questionable place to meet,” Xenia said to seemingly no one a little distance outside Site X’s base near the waterfalls. “Aren’t you vulnerable for detection here?
”
Lars uncloaked his invisibility field and slid his fingers along his wrist gadgetry. “I’ve taken the necessary measures to disable their detective capabilities. We’ll be safe here.”
“As you say.” Xenia looked at the waterfall. Something about the waves flowing down the mossy stones were hypnotic, she couldn’t look away. Lars noticed his sister’s trance.
“How are you holding together?” he asked.
“Fine, and you?” she responded.
“Good,” Lars came closer. “Listen, about our last-”
“Don’t. I understand your position. I only hope you understand mine.”
“I do.”
Xenia feigned a smile.
“What is it you want to talk about?” she asked.
Lars slowly considered his sister’s attitude.
There was more she wanted to say.
“My mission.” the hunter responded.
Xenia looked away from the waterfall and into his eyes.
“I have two major objectives. One: detain Adron and destroy all traces of his existence on earth. Two: eradicate the virol before it gets out of control, spreads, and dominates this planet. Now I know that the Nova operating team has acquired virol and are in the process of reverse-engineering it. While that poses its own concerns, the other is even worse – which is the fact that an earth government has also acquired virol for their own schemes and purposes. Are you aware of this?”
“I am.” Xenia’s eyes trailed to the waterfall again.
“Why were no procedures taken to avoid it? I had to deal with this myself and it must also be said that the only reason I haven’t destroyed the virol Nova has is because of your position in the matter.”
“Then you know why I couldn’t stop the earth government from collecting the virol,” Xenia eyed her brother once more. “Yes, I wanted to, but being in the position that I am, wisdom is more important than force. How I handle this situation on earth affects the future of all ET contact with this planet.”
“These are strange games of power these earthlings play. Highly illogical,” Lars folded his arms. “I suppose this is why you were selected for your mission and no one else. The tolerance needed for such creatures is beyond me.”