The three men slid to the floor in a heap, and Jenny looked over at Ben, “I’m going to Nadine.”
“No, Jen. You can’t face her alone, she’s dangerous.”
“And I’m not?” she pointed to the passed-out bodies on the floor. Arming herself, she passed the remaining weapons to Cal and Rhodes.
“You don’t have to do this alone, Jen,” Rhodes offered, “I’ll confront her with you.”
“Doctor, you really don’t want to be around here when the ‘you know what’ hits the fan.”
“No, I need to go with you. Buy our guys some time to get out.”
“Doctor!”
“No! I need to have some redemption here,” he said, cocking his weapon, “I’ve already been implicated, I can’t go anywhere else.”
“Those men are not your fault,” Jen argued.
“Not completely, but I can’t live with myself with the things I’ve done. Let me go so I can atone for my sins.”
“There’s no time to argue about this, come on. We all need to go...now!” Jen begged.
The group entered the man trap to exit the lab, but the scanner denied their access.
“It’s already too late,” Rhodes said in defeat, “They’ve already terminated our access.”
“Jenny!” Ben exclaimed, taking her hand, “We can force it!”
The two closed their eyes and concentrated on the computer access code. With little effort, they sent a command to release the man trap.
The group quickly exited and headed toward Nadine’s office.
“Rhodes, you and Jen break out and stall Nadine. Bennie, you need to stay with me and get with Griffin.”
“What’s your plan, Unc?”
“First we need to have Griffin take us to where the alien box is stored. Then we make him take us up.”
“What about the access code and those guards upstairs?” Rhodes asked.
“You leave that to me,” Calvin said, “Ben, will you remain in contact with Jenny?”
“I think so...Jenny?”
“As long as we’re AMP’d, yes,” Jen answered. “I’ll find out through Bennie where to meet up.”
Calvin was about to answer when she lifted her finger to her lips and crouched down, hiding herself behind a cubicle partition. The rest followed Jen’s lead. Calvin pointed one way to Ben, acknowledged Jen’s smile as he watched Jen and Rhodes move closer to Nadine’s office.
“Come on Ben,” this way.
Doctor Rhodes and Jen came to Nadine’s open office door, “Come in...why don’t you make yourselves comfortable,” Nadine’s voice noised from inside the room, “I’ve been expecting you.”
Rhodes followed Jen in, his gun on Nadine. They cautiously entered the room, “What have you done?!”
“I know you attempted to read my mind, too bad my subroutines didn’t detect you before you saw me killing Ms. Rollins...I expect that’s why you’re here.”
Jen stepped over to the standing Nadine and promptly slapped her face. The resulting hand slap made her head swing to the left, then held the back of her hand up to her lip and smiled back at Jen, “I suppose I had that coming.”
“You watched as Bennie and I...”
“It’s not like that, Jenny,” Nadine said, returning to her chair. “Yes, I’m a machine. I have no feelings. I was collecting data on your ability to energize your chips when you both are together.”
“What?”
“Yes, you see, it was much too difficult to control you when you are both together...that’s why I had you separated from him.”
“You had me separated?”
“Why yes, my dear, of course, do you think I would have allowed this to happen otherwise? I’m a machine, I do not make mistakes.”
Rhodes pointed his gun at Nadine’s head, “What do you mean? Machine?”
“I am a prototype the Company built to attend to the gamma project.”
“Prototype?”
“Yes, the Company successfully downloaded the cyborg blueprint from the alien complex. They built me using the alien tech.”
“But wait,” Rhodes said, “We disrupted the transmission before those prints were finished sending. The complex was destroyed. How is it that the Company was able to build you?”
“One of the things you don’t understand just yet, Doctor, is that there is more than one alien complex.”
“More than one?” Rhodes exclaimed,
“Yes, there were two spheres sent to the solar system you call Sol...how clever...anyway, it was all thanks to Calvin and you, Doctor. You gave them the frequencies to communicate with the second complex. That data stream was only received by those who initiated it...”
“Let me guess, the Company.”
“Yes, quite right.”
“Wait a minute,” Jen paused, “If you allowed us to escape...”
“Quite right again, my dear. Calvin and Bennie will never leave here. My men upstairs have already been alerted to their attempt.”
“No! You can’t do this!”
“It is much too late, my dear.”
“I must warn him,” Jen said, closed her eyes to focus on sending an emergency message to Bennie.
“I’m very sorry, Jenny, you can’t warn him. You can’t reach him within this room. I’ve installed a projection dampening field; no one can project here...not even I.”
Rhodes held his gun higher and wrapped his finger around the trigger, “Then say good night!”
“Pfff, Dr. Rhodes, you don’t have the gonads. Besides,” she said, looking up at the Doctor, “I’m a clone machine. I don’t have any feelings of you terminating me. Another will be built from the DNA pool to take my place...in fact, there might already be others among you...strategically placed by the Company.”
“Bennie!” Jenny shouted, heading to the exit.
“I’ve sealed the room, you can’t possibly crack the encryption code,” Nadine said, “Doctor, if you’re going to pull the trigger...”
“Don’t think for a moment that I won’t!”
“No, you must be sure to kill me all the way.”
“What do you mean?”
“What she means is if you don’t plant the bullet in her brain and destroy the chip, she’ll regrow.”
“We never gave you the technology to unlock the full growth enzyme.”
“They have it, Doctor!”
Doctor Rhodes welled up with tears in his eyes at the realization of what he had done. He gritted his teeth and squeezed the trigger, firing several rounds into Nadine’s skull. The body fell back and flopped to the floor. Exposed wires sparked and shot electrical discharges across the cyborg body, then it lay limp.
Jen screamed in horror, “What have you done! We needed to unlock this door!”
Rhodes fell to his knees in despair, “This is all my fault...I did this...now I’ve unleashed a terrible thing on humanity...there may be no stopping it.”
Jenny came to Rhode’s side, laying her weapon on the floor next to her, “Doctor! Get a hold of yourself. We need to get out of here to warn Bennie!”
* * *
CHAPTER 13
Whidbey Island Naval Base & Space Port
Oak Harbor, WA
Underground Lab Complex
Griffin’s Office
March 12th, 2065 10:47
Calvin and Ben made their way to Griffin’s office as soon as Jen and the Doctor went down the corridor toward Nadine’s office.
“Come on, this way.”
They came to his office door. Ben held his hands up to his temples and concentrated on the door lock. Then the door opened, revealing Griffin inside on his data pad.
“Uhmm, Bev, I need to go... ...yes...I need to talk to Calvin. Yes, he’s right here...okay, I’ll talk to you later.”
Griffin disconnected the pad and gently set it down on the desk. He raised his hands in submission to Calvin’s loaded AK-47 that was pointed at him.
“Okay, Cal...just take it easy now.”
; “I don’t think you’re in any position to be telling me what to do, ain’t that right Bennie?”
“Yep, I wouldn’t mess around. He’s serious.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to take me to the alien box.”
“You know I can’t do that...”
“...do I?” Calvin interrupted. “Colonel, I know that you are one of three people with the access to the box...so I suggest you start playing along with us, or my little friend here will extract what we need to know the hard way.”
Bennie raised his hands to his temples to begin the mind probe when Griffin motioned with his, “Okay, okay, but you’ll have to use discretion as we make our way through the corridor. I think the guards might think something up with you pointing that thing at me.”
“How far is it?”
“It’s downstairs a level.”
Calvin held his machine gun up, pressing the barrel to Griffin’s head, “You better be straight with me on this.”
“You have my word...” Griffin sweated, “Take me with you! I won’t stand a chance if she finds out I gave it up to you.”
“Bennie? Is he being straight with us?”
Bennie probed for a moment, but was interrupted by gun fire down the hall, “Yes, he’s telling the truth.”
“That came from Nadine’s office,” Griffin exclaimed, “Now, put that thing away and let’s get the hell out of here...while we still can!”
Bennie nodded in agreement with Griffin so Calvin lowered his weapon, but instead of disarming it, he slung it over his shoulder and concealed it the best he could with his lab coat.
Griffin led them out of his office and nearly ran down the corridor to an elevator. He scanned and punched in a code to go below. The doors opened and the three entered to descend to the lower level of the complex.
When the doors opened, they were met with screams of pain from several enclosed rooms. The Screams echoed off the walls as they made their way down the corridor. The sounds etched images of the horror into their eyes as they walked by, revealing the dark secrets that were hidden beneath them.
Men, lying on flat metal beds. Some were held down with ankle and wrist straps, and angrily tugged at them, trying to break free. While others pounded freely on the glass, begging for help. Their faces were tattered with wires and computer traces, some had more traces and others had more wires.
“Griffin? Did you know about this?” Calvin asked.
“No, I...I...didn’t...”
“He’s lying,” Bennie added with a stern look.
“Okay, okay...I knew about this. I didn’t have any choice in the matter. But I didn’t know to what extent this testing was taking.”
Bennie looked at Griffin, “He’s telling the truth now.”
“That’s some talent you got there, Son,” Griffin said.
“Yes it is,” Calvin answered, “And you just keep cooperating and we’ll not have to unleash his full potential.”
“I’ll leave that to later, I am anxious to find out everything you know,” Ben said, continuing down the hall.
They passed at least twenty men that were being housed inside enclosures. They made their way through the hall noticing that the men at this end of the hall were worse off than the others. They hurried down the corridor to a door at the end.
Griffin scanned the door and the three entered the room, “The box is sealed inside here,” he pointed to a cylinder at the center of the room.
“Open it.”
Griffin stepped up to the console and pressed his access code. The cylinder spun in a circle, creating an opening. Griffin removed the cap and set it on the floor next to them.
“You do realize that as soon as I disconnect this box, they’ll be all over us.”
“Why is this thing even connected to anything?” Calvin asked.
“I would say that the Company had actually integrated the tech into the complex’s mainframe.”
“What on earth could they be up to with this?”
“The better question is how do we remove it from the connectors?”
“Bennie,” Calvin began, breaking his gaze off the box, “You’ve got about thirty more minutes left, can you do anything?”
Bennie raised his hands to the sides of his temples and closed his eyes. His furrowed brow and pulsating jowls showed the others his determination. The alien box changed from a bright green glow to a dull blue pulsation, followed by the retraction of three arms which connected the box on each side and below.
Bennie opened his eyes and returned his arms to his side, “It’s off-line now. But we don’t have much time. I was able to connect to the command structure and gave the system a command. They’ll think we’re heading to the surface now.”
Calvin shook his head as he looked at the box, “Outstanding!” then grabbed the box from its resting place, which immediately sounded an alarm.
Griffin cursed, “What command did you tell it?”
“I sent the elevator to the surface.”
“That’s our only way out of here, what were you thinking!” Griffin protested.
“Now, now, my good man. That’s why one always has a backup plan.”
“Backup?”
“You know, plan B.”
“Okay, lead the way!” Griffin ordered.
“How do I know you’re still telling us the truth?”
“Oh for god sakes, man! If they catch us now, they’ll kill us all! Now move it!” Griffin shouted over the noise of the alarm.
“Uncle Cal? What are you thinking?” Ben said with apprehension.
“Down.”
“Down?”
“Yes, Down...it worked on my last mission, it’ll work this time.”
“Mind explaining?”
“Sure, on the way...but first, I need the original case...tell me it’s close by.”
Griffin opened up a cabinet recessed on a wall and removed the familiar metal case, “Here, but it’s empty.”
“Maybe...”
“Whattya mean maybe?”
Calvin opened the case and removed the bottom, revealing one of the alien weapons they had confiscated from the complex, “Maybe not,” he smiled.
“Calvin, you sly dog,” Griffin smiled. “Maybe there’s hope for you after all.”
Calvin gave him a quick glance before stepping to one side of the room. He activated the alien weapon and aimed at the floor a few feet from him, “If I’m right, this will not be a good thing.”
Griffin and Ben grew a worried look on their faces as Calvin shot the beam and melted a hole in the floor.
He stepped up to the hole and looked down, “Yep, this is not a good sign.”
“What is it Unc?”
“Down the rabbit hole first,” he motioned, “Griffin, you first, I’ll hold you by your arms and drop you as low as possible.”
“That’s got to be a fifteen foot drop!” Griffin gulped.
“Pussy,” Calvin smiled, and shoved him feet first with a laugh.
Griffin’s yell could still be heard over the alarm, “I’ll get you back for this!”
“He sounds mad,” Calvin smiled, “You next Ben.”
Bennie closed his eyes and concentrated as he leaped into the hole. He managed to reduce his fall and gently land on his feet, “Okay, Cal, I’ll guide you. Come on!” holding his arms in the air, he sent a wave of energy and intercepted Calvin’s fall, and eased him to the ground.
“Hey, neat trick, kid.”
“Yeah, how about using it on me next time we have to drop,” Griffin complained.
“We still don’t have much time,” Calvin said, pointing at the ceiling, “Security had just come into the room when I jumped.”
“Hey!” Griffin exclaimed, “Where’s the neat little hole you just carved?”
“That’s the little thing I was worried about. Come on, we need to keep moving,” Calvin motioned, “You see, these lower levels seem to be made from the same material Salvage-5 encountered in
side the alien complex.”
“So you’re saying that the hole closed in on itself?”
“Yep,” he answered, running to the end of a corridor.
The sounds of the alarm faded as they made their way down two more levels. Then Cal stopped at a junction in the tunnels and gasped, “Dear god!”
Griffin and Ben slowed and rested by Calvin. Ben noticed the cylinder on the wall and jumped back, “What the hell?!”
“They’re replicating the alien complex we blew up.”
“How could that be possible?” Griffin asked, “The complex was destroyed and the plans never were completed.”
“Well, they got the tech perfected somehow. All I know is that we need to get outta here...and now!”
They traveled down the last corridor and came to an opening. They could hear rushing water on the other side.
“This must be as far as the complex has grown. It’s still in early development.”
“How do you know that Unc?”
“None of the tubes had clones in them yet.”
“...and I’ll bet I know where the ‘test subjects’ will eventually end up,” Griffin added.
“They’re building an army of cyborg clones,” Bennie said, with a start.
“Cyborg clones?” Griffin asked.
“The original programing is running,” Ben said, setting the box on the ground, “Someone else carry it...it keeps on trying to communicate with me...I don’t think I can handle that just yet guys.”
“Bennie,” Cal said, pausing from going through the opening, “Are you saying that their army is going to try and integrate with humans?”
“It’s already begun, Cal,” Ben said, tears running down his face, “I don’t need this Cal. I can’t be a part of the destruction of humanity.”
“Oh don’t you worry your little self about that right now, Ben. Look, you’re charge is all but gone now, your eyes...they’re returning to normal. You’re just feeling the effects wearing off.”
“Look!” Griffin shouted, “This underground stream must lead out!”
“You’re right Griffin! Grab the box and jump in...We’ll float down as far as we can.”
Griffin grabbed the alien box and jumped into the stream. Calvin and Ben jumped in after him, and they all traveled down the underground river.
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