Overthrown: The Great Dark (Overthrown Trilogy Book 1)

by Judd Vowell

  “Thanks for this, Salvador. I’ve got to say, we’re a little overdue for a celebration.”

  “Yes, hijo, we are.” He held out his glass half-filled with ice and whiskey. “A toast. To saving the world from itself.” Jacob raised his in return, and they each took a pull. “I couldn’t have done it without you, Jacob. I want you to know that.”

  “Thank you for bringing me on the adventure. To say you changed my life would be a little cliché, considering. But you did. You made me better than I ever imagined I could be.”

  Salvador’s face filled with satisfaction. “Exactly what I wanted for all of us. To be better than we thought we could be. So far, so good.”

  Jacob considered the statement. It was something he had known but not given much credence. The big picture of Salvador’s intent was becoming more vivid and defined. “So what’s next for us?”

  “Honest answer? I have no idea. Don’t misunderstand me. I have my predictions. And I certainly won’t let things revert back to the way they were. But I don’t want to interfere too much.”

  “Interfere?” Jacob asked.

  “With the experiment. All I need to do is keep everyone in line until enough of the outside world is gone. Then we can start all over again. Or maybe we can’t. That’s what we’ll find out. And that’s what this whole thing is about.”

  6.

  S alvador walked to the bar and poured another round of whiskeys as he introduced the next phase of Jacob’s contribution to his ANTI- experiment. It was an important moment in their relationship, with Salvador showing that he thought of Jacob as more than just a hacker. He wanted to entrust Jacob with something different, but obviously big. And the Domino Infection having finished its job, Jacob was hungry for something else.

  “What do you think you should do now, hijo? Now that your virus has destroyed the modern world?” Salvador asked as he handed him his second drink. He was doing what he always did with Jacob – what good leaders do. He was pushing Jacob to think outside of his comfort zone.

  “It’s funny you ask, Salvador. I’ve been considering the possibilities. The Domino Infection has been my life’s focus for so many years, it’s hard to imagine doing anything else.”

  “Of course it is. But, Jacob, you’re like an artist. When you finish one project, you move on to the next. You have to. It’s in your DNA.”

  Jacob stood and walked to the edge of the room, to what felt like the edge of the heavens. He took a long drink of the ice-cold whiskey, holding it on his tongue and letting it slip down his throat slowly. It was smoky with a slight burn. He looked out over the broad distance that the height of the tower afforded, and it came to him.

  “You need eyes, don’t you?” Jacob asked. He could feel Salvador’s approval from behind him.

  “I certainly do, hijo.”

  “Right now, you’re near-sighted. Blind to what’s happening outside of the grids.”

  “That’s right. I am.”

  “You need to know how quickly the outside population is devouring itself.” Jacob turned from the glass wall and faced his mentor. “And you need to make sure everything is going as planned.”

  “I don’t need any surprises, Jacob. In order for this experiment to continue unabated, I can’t have any unforeseen opposition. I need more than just sight. I need knowledge.”

  Jacob began to realize something that Salvador had known all along. That they weren’t done fighting. That there would still be obstacles in forming their new society. That certain human wills might not give up too easily. There was no calculation or statistic that could determine it. It was one of the few things in nature that was beyond mathematical presumption, and therefore beyond Jacob’s logical mindset.

  Salvador continued. “I’m not concerned with the small random invasion attempts that we’re seeing now. No, that’s just desperation at work. What I need to anticipate is the organized attacks. The groups of people that will inevitably develop a strategic challenge to what we’re trying to do.”

  “It won’t be easy, Salvador.”

  “I know it won’t. But that’s why you’re the one to do it. We’ve got time. These types of revolts won’t develop quickly. But the sooner you get me those eyes, the better. Simone will help. She’s good with information. Getting it and analyzing it. But you know that by now.”

  Jacob did know that. He had become somewhat enchanted with Simone’s persona ever since the invasion, and ever since the Domino Infection wasn’t occupying all of his time. She was skilled in so many ways, and he enjoyed watching her work. “Ok then, we’ll get started tomorrow,” Jacob said as he finished the last bit of whiskey in his glass. “I’ll get it done, Salvador. Trust me.”

  “Of course you will, hijo. It’s who you are: the straight line that connects my abstract dots.”

  7.

  T he ANTs who provided security for the grids were frightening, even to those on the inside. They appeared at the onset of the attack, seemingly out of nowhere to the other ANTs. They had been designated as a separate division from the rest of ANTI-, and they were the most hidden secret of Salvador’s revolution. They were known as the Omega XT.

  They were the same group that cleared the grids before the other ANTs moved into them. Their tactics for removal were ruthless and unemotional. People who were living inside the pre-determined grid boundaries were given one chance to leave peacefully as the Great Dark began. But instead of then forcefully pushing them out if they refused, the Omega XT would simply eliminate them, without question or regard for human dignity. It was one of the hardest things for Jacob to accept about the takeover. He could see the logic in it – these people were going to die in the darkness anyway. But he couldn’t hide his distaste when he heard stories of eliminated children. He told himself that the Omega XT were saving them from future suffering, and most of the time it helped him sleep at night.

  With access to the inventory at military bases and police departments, the Omega XT were able to equip themselves with hi-tech weaponry and advanced-tactic vehicles. They used all-terrain jeeps, humvees, and armored trucks, each upfitted with high-caliber machine guns or rocket launchers. And every Omega XT ANT carried an assault rifle and wore two crisscrossed utility belts filled with grenades and ammunition. They were highly trained, although their origin and training grounds remained a mystery to most other ANTs, including Jacob.

  They dressed themselves in black and gray camouflage with full-scale military body armor, and they wore tinted goggles and dark face masks under tight-fitting helmets. They were completely anonymous and resoundingly intimidating. Salvador had explained to Jacob before ANTI- compelled the Great Dark upon the world that there would be necessary horrors that came with it. Jacob trusted him that the Omega XT were necessary. And he never had any doubts that they were truly horrific.

  8.

  S imone and Jacob met to discuss the plan for their next project the morning after his top-floor meeting with Salvador. What started as an informal breakfast turned into lunch and then early afternoon drinks as the discussion flowed without pause. He had always been impressed with her intellect – it was rare to find someone who thought on the same level as he did. It immediately felt to Jacob like they were meant to work together, even though they had never had the chance.

  Their mutual flirtation from years ago had not subsided either. Jacob held a deep respect for Simone, but he couldn’t deny the sexual tension that existed between them. Simone felt it, too. They both left it unacknowledged and simmering underneath their interactions. And they let it fuel the creativity that they needed to help Salvador further his revolution.

  “The goal is intel,” Jacob said in that first meeting. “You’ll know what to do with it. But first things first – we’ve got to get it.”

  “Exactly,” she replied. “The problem is that we’re dealing with total blackout. They’re in complete darkness out there – but once we cross that grid line, so are we.”

  They kicked around all sorts of i
deas. Spy planes and helicopters. A network of satellite bases with dedicated reconnaissance teams. They even came up with a crazy system of tunnels dug throughout the land masses of the earth. “A human-sized, globalized ANT farm,” they laughed. That one came after the first round of cocktails. By the last drink, no strategy, no matter how absurd, was off the table.

  But their initial brainstorming that day turned fruitless. They had inevitably run into the same problem with all of their ideas: they each involved ANTs roaming outside the grids, something that they learned Salvador wanted to avoid at all costs. He told Jacob that having their people journey deep into the Great Dark was not an option, no matter what.

  “There’s no hope out there right now, Jacob,” he said. “None at all. But helicopters, planes, cars, trucks...us...that would create hope. Do you understand?”

  Jacob did.

  “The excursion teams that we use to re-stock our supplies are one thing. They never travel more than a few miles out.”

  That was right.

  “But if we become even moderately visible with the same technology we have taken away from the rest, all we would do is inspire and excite them. And give them hope in a hopeless world.”

  Jacob nodded.

  “Come up with something else.”

  For Jacob and Simone, it was back to the proverbial drawing board.

  ◊◊◊

  The answer came to him while he was sleeping. It was a real eureka moment. Jacob awoke reminded of the math of Archimedes, while mentally kicking himself for not thinking of it that first day with Simone. It had been right in front of him without his seeing it.

  He jumped out of bed and reached for his phone. When he touched the screen, it read “2:38 AM.” It was the deep recesses of REM sleep that had led him to it. He pressed the circular button and said, “Call Simone.” She didn’t answer at first. Jacob was wide awake by the fourth ring, when her voice finally came through the phone’s speaker.

  “Jacob, what the hell are you doing? Sleep is precious to me, goddammit.”

  “Simone, just shut up. I’ve got it.”

  “Got what?”

  “The answer to our problem. The way we can see the world.”

  “Oh yeah? What is it?”

  “One word: Drones.”

  9.

  T he Omega XT became overtly emboldened in certain grids. Salvador had predicted it would happen in some form, as aggression tends to follow a sense of power. He maintained as much control of them as possible, and the vast majority of his leadership across the globe was mindful of the importance of their subtle supervision over the elite soldiers. But the logistics of keeping that many people in line across an entire planet were nightmarish. There were grid directorships that lost the respect of the fighting force, and the stories of the violence that followed were hard to comprehend.

  The worst instance of unchecked power gone wrong occurred in Eastern Europe Sector 5. Jacob was on the conference call with Salvador as he was briefed on the situation.

  “They have run amok, Salvador,” one of the directors from the grid was explaining vehemently. “We were never supposed to be real terrorists, were we? Our own people are scared of them! The ones that are supposed to be protecting us!”

  “Wait, slow down, director,” Salvador interrupted. “What exactly is happening?”

  “Our Omega XT – they’re off the rails! They’ve taken a group of kids, Salvador. Kids! Maybe 12, maybe 13 years old. Over twenty of them. All they were doing was looking for food, I think. They let them get close, acted as if they might help them.” The director was on the verge of breaking down. His voice cracked as he continued. “Once they were close enough, they grabbed them up and slit their throats. One by one. A few tried to run, but they mowed them down with the .50-cals. Cut them to pieces.”

  I heard Salvador sigh under his breath. “Oh, hell.”

  “And then the others. It was barbaric. I can’t believe it still.” The director hesitated. “They hung them up by their feet from the light poles over the street. Like hogs in a slaughterhouse. They bled out in front of all of us.” He took a breath, and then stunned us out of our shock, “Kids, Salvador!”

  “I know, I know.”

  “I don’t know that you do. I never signed up for anything like this!”

  Salvador raised himself from the crouched position in which he had been sitting during the horrid tale. He spoke sternly, powerfully. “What you signed up for, director, is some form of leadership. A form of leadership that seems to be missing right now, as far as I can tell.”

  The director fought back. “Listen, Salvador, I don’t know where these guys came from, but their methods are downright inhuman and sickening. This is not what I thought it was going to be.”

  “You let me handle the methodology of the Omega XT from here. But you’ve got to get yourself under control, dammit. This is not going to be perfect. And your people will look to you as an example. You can do this, director. There’s nothing to fear. Make sure you and your directorship display exactly that sentiment. Got it?”

  There was silence on the other end. Finally, the director replied. “Got it. Nothing to fear.”

  ◊◊◊

  Jacob left the call wondering what Salvador could really do to rein in that group of Omega XT on the other side of the world. He also began to wonder if they would allow themselves to be reined in at all, there or anywhere else.

  10.

  D rones were everywhere before the Great Dark, constantly hovering above the world’s people. The United States used the most by far. The classic American defense budget rule applied: if one is worth the money, then build a thousand. Russia and China had been using them, too. And a number of other developed countries were exploring the multiple ways in which a drone program could be effective.

  On a more localized level, the U.S. government had developed an extensive network of drones for use across its homeland. Various agencies were watching the nation’s citizens, under the guise of protection. Most people probably wouldn’t have cared had they known about them. But to Jacob, that wasn’t the point. The more he learned about the U.S. drone program, the more he understood what government overreach meant. And it made him feel more justified than ever in what he had done.

  ◊◊◊

  America’s use of unmanned aircraft had begun during the Vietnam War, although it was highly classified. Those first drones were limited to straight-line or circular flight paths, and therefore only employed for surveillance. More sophisticated ones were used with success in the Gulf War, which led to interest and money flowing into their research and development throughout the 1990s. By the time the Global War on Terror was declared, drones were ready to bear the brunt of battle. Armed and agile, their missions of assassination and destruction became the U.S. military norm.

  The country’s history of self-spying, and the tactics utilized in it, wasn’t quite so clear. Some of ANTI-’s military insiders said it had started soon after the 9/11 attacks. Some who had been embedded deeper said it was in place long before then. Satellites in orbit and streets full of cameras were a large part of it. But drones provided such flexibility. They could be flown wherever and whenever needed. And with the technological advances in video occurring at a hyper pace, there was eventually little left that a drone couldn’t see.

  For the job Jacob had ahead of him, they were the perfect tools. He just had to learn how to fly them.

  11.

  S imone and Jacob focused their drone team on North America, planning to test the program in Sector 1 first and then outward. If they could make it work there, they would roll it out across the world with ample supply of the unmanned aircraft and the facilities needed to operate them. Salvador approved. The drones by their very intent would be invisible to the people they were observing, just as he wanted. Equipped with advanced high-definition video cameras, they could fly at an altitude high enough to be silent and out of sight while still being effective.

  A
nd to top it all off, their team could be centralized, commandeering the flights from a single headquarters and eliminating confusion of their purpose. America’s spy program against itself was based in one place, with drones remotely controlled out of a solitary underground room. And that room was housed a short distance from the Sector 1 grid, just outside of the former nation’s capital. Jacob and Simone organized a group of pilots and engineers and made their way to the former military complex where it was located. It would become their home for the next few weeks. Home of the Omni Operation.

  ◊◊◊

  Jacob poured himself into the various training manuals that described both operation and capability of the aircraft. He was obsessive about that kind of thing. There wasn’t a number or word that he thought he could afford to miss. The people he and Simone had assembled acted the same, whether by nature or impression. He didn’t care, as long as they created a successful program for Salvador. Jacob saw the end game, and they just needed to help him get there.

  Simone worked differently. She was much more personal, much better dealing with people. It didn’t matter if she were interrogating a threat or having lunch with a colleague, she always got what she wanted from the person through interaction and conversation. Jacob envied her for that.

  She quickly grew bored with the analysis of the machines and how they worked. “Go back to the grid,” Jacob told her after a week. “There’s nothing for you here yet. Besides, you can keep Salvador calm in person much easier than from afar.”

  “How long before you’ll be ready to send them out?” she asked.

  “A couple more weeks, at least. You know me – I don’t try anything without absolute confidence. Don’t worry, I’ll send for you before we get started.” He hated to see her go, but he hated to see her restless even more. That was a new feeling for Jacob – caring about someone else’s happiness. He was becoming very fond of Simone, in a way that he had never experienced with anyone else. He felt apprehensive about it, but he couldn’t stop its effect on him.