Eternals Among Us: Book one

by Larry W. Miller Jr.

  “This means that much to you?” Mrs. Hull asked.

  “It does. I have been chasing this most of my career.” He replied. He sat down heavily and let out a huge sigh.

  Mrs. Hull pointed at him. “Don’t let this be your great white whale.” She admonished. Then she looked at the kids. “I think we have to help him. I don’t see any other way out.” She concluded.

  Lock nodded and Tina lowered her eyes. “I’m afraid mama.” Tina admitted and Mrs. Hull went to her daughter to console her.

  “There, there baby, momma’s here. But you’re gonna have to be strong now. I know you’ve got it in you. You are one of the strongest people I know.” She glanced at Lock. “And you’ve got your little friend to help too.” She added.

  “He’s good mom, but are we both good enough?” Tina asked.

  “I don’t know honey. Time will tell.” Mrs. Hull said. The two separated and went back to their seats.

  Marshall tried to make the best of it. “You’re making the right decision. If you sat by the sidelines, we wouldn’t have your skills. This is the right time and the right place to do something good. To do something that may just save lives. Isn’t that worth a little risk?” He asked.

  Tina was upset, it had already been obvious. “A little risk?” Her tone went up at the end and gave an audio warning to all at the table. “You want to know what a little risk is?” She asked and her voice was dangerous again.

  “Calm down honey, the fool didn’t mean it that way.” Mrs. Hull said, still staring down Marshall. “He just doesn’t understand you well enough to know what to and what not to say.” She explained.

  “Look, we’re going to go forward with the mission, right?” Marshall tried his best to regain control of this meeting. He was losing his grip fast. It looked like his people might actually attack him. That would be a worst-case scenario because he might take one of them and injure a second, but they would overwhelm him, and he knew it. “Please let us all calm down.” He suggested, mimicking Mrs. Hull’s sentiments. It was a reflex move for self-preservation. Droplets of sweat beaded up on his forehead. He tried not to notice it.

  Lock pulled the conversation back to topic. “So, what is the first move?” He asked. It was probably the most direct phrase he could have used. It was also one of the least expected.

  “The first move is to hide you more thoroughly than we did this time. The cells are too obvious if he suspects that we have you. We have places to hide people, not many, but we do have them.” He assured them.

  Lock shook his head. “If it is a place you know about, then the tall man knows about it. You told us earlier that he owned you and your department.” He stated flatly. “We’ll get to a hiding place and we will check this device for a message from you to begin our search.” He said, having worked out the logistics even before the mission had begun.

  Marshall was out of his league here. At least he had the brains to notice. “Uh, okay, I’ll contact you via message as soon as we are clear enough to begin. In the meantime, my department is circulating the fake search for you. This should make the tall man more insane the longer it drags out. He is going to make more mistakes. Our monitoring system will catch him somewhere.” He said with more confidence than the others felt.

  Lock shook his head again. “We need to deploy more cameras and sensors. Our friend has procured some and we can direct him remotely on where to install them. Finally, we’ll patch any relevant information they obtain to you via the same connection. We can begin passively looking for now. We don’t want to tip our hand.” Lock said and the others agreed. Marshall sat back again.

  “So, what do I do?” He asked.

  “Just keep being visibly searching for us. The monitor system serves the tall man. He’ll be looking for you as you search for us. He’ll be watching you closely, so don’t start repeating locations. You must make it look completely real. You’ve got to sell it fully.” Lock warned. If not, the tall man will get suspicious and if he begins to think about it, he’ll figure out where we are, or at least he’ll come for you to lay on you and get the information on our whereabouts that way. That is the second reason we are not going to hide where you say. You might reveal us under torture. If you do not know where we are, we are much safer.” He declared. Mrs. Hull nodded slowly, thoughtfully.

  She turned to Tina. “He is good.” She admitted.

  Tina made a dismissive gesture. “I told you.” She answered a bit sarcastically.

  “So, I will begin searching for you even as you are moving to your new hiding place.” Marshall declared. He pulled the card from his pocket and moved over to unlock the door. “Good luck.” He said as he opened it and stepped out of the way of the corridor beyond.

  The three fugitives moved quickly and quietly. There was no talking among them, and Lock was leading the way. Marshall was left to wonder where they would go. But it wasn’t part of his bit of the plan, so he shook the thought away and moved back to his office. He had a lot of busy work to do.

  ∆ ∆ ∆

  The tall man had his people out searching already. The two teenagers had been right there in his reach and then were suddenly gone. His fury was raging. How could they have gotten away? The video screens all showed the girl. Someone on board this blasted ship had to have seen them by now. His fingers were flying over the keys as he ordered search after search. His people had covered over thirty percent of the vast ship and had uncovered not a single clue. He needed more coverage. He was not yet ready to commit himself, but the emotions were bubbling around inside of him.

  “Sir?” A voice behind him made him whirl around as if shot.

  “Who dares to bother me now?” He asked menacingly. It was a cowering Dominic who was in front of him. Dominic was an enigma to most people, but the tall man had spent countless hours and a good deal of credits making sure this man did not trigger memories. He was so non-descript that many who saw him could not describe him if asked later. That sort of anonymity was priceless.

  “Sorry sir, I have been doing a search in the databases and I may have found something.” He reported.

  “Out with it, what do you have?” The tall man beckoned.

  “We have security logs from several places being tripped.” He said and this at least had the tall man’s interest.

  “Go on.” He pressed his underling.

  “Well sir, the areas in question are old jail cells and even an interrogation room. They haven’t been used in years until today.” He said, laying out his entire find at once.

  “Ah, so you believe someone has taken our missing children and sequestered them away in an abandoned jail?” He asked. It was Dominic’s turn to squirm as his belief in his own find was tested.

  “I do sir.” He finally replied.

  The tall man made a mental note of this. Dominic was not prone to such strength of will. Perhaps he had a backbone after all. “Then go and investigate. If they are there, call me and I will bring everyone in. If they were there but have left, get me anything you can find. Heat signatures, footprints in the dust, anything that can point us in the right direction.” He commanded.

  Dominic was already on the move. “At once sir.” He said quickly enough to be impressive. This lackey had let him down with the two teenagers and it was obvious that he was working hard to get back into good standing. That sort of loyalty was commendable even though Dominic himself was expendable. The tall man turned back to his searches. Maybe, with a little luck, this could soon be all over. He needed things to get back to normal so his plans could continue.

  ∆ ∆ ∆

  Dominic was in a hurry to get away from his employer. He knew that his life didn’t mean much to the man. His only chance was to become valuable once more. Finding those kids would be his greatest steppingstone towards continued existence. He was determined to do that very thing. He wanted to live longer. He wanted to be revered instead of reviled. He wanted to be recognized for being useful. Everyone craved these things, but for Dom
inic this was life and death. He felt a direct need to be useful or he would disappear like so many others that he could remember. His life was a dangerous one. His employer was prone to anger and had ultimate power over common lives like his own. He needed an edge.

  Dominic moved quickly and he descended a lift tube using the artificial gravity to descend more quickly than would normally be possible. The readings he had were not that old and he might just catch a break if he moved quickly enough. He was sorry for the delay of reporting it in the first place. But if successful, he wanted his boss to know who had come up with the save. He brought the lift to a halt just shy of the floor he wanted and had it resume normal speed to the final destination to avoid raising any suspicions. He was a spy after all. He moved from the lift and into the crowd as he had always done, not noticed by anyone. The cells were three bays over but at least he was on the same level. He kept his eyes peeled for the teenagers even as he moved briskly through the area. Who knew how lucky he was today? He was still alive after failing the tall man. That spoke volumes for his luck so far. The corridor leading into the cell block was locked. His access code opened it just like any other and he checked both directions before slipping in and locking it back behind himself. The floors were clean. That was odd for an unused portion of the ship. The last known inmate was over five years ago. There hadn’t even been food delivery in here for that long. He moved with purpose in a secured area. He felt like nothing would find him in here. That belief had lowered his guard somewhat.

  “Who the hell are you?” The voice startled Dominic, but his reflexes made him lash out. Marshall caught part of the blow and retaliated with one of his own that hit Dominic squarely on the temple. Dominic staggered and tried to fall away from this new attacker. A second blow doubled the spy as the wind was knocked out of him. The object hitting him also had some electric shock to it. He was losing consciousness and that would be fatal. His boss would never allow him to be taken alive. He had orders…

  ∆ ∆ ∆

  Marshall was cleaning up the final bits of his business before leaving the old prison area. The doors and tables and chair would have no fingerprints on them. The cells were clean as well. He was just finishing up the last of this when someone came around the bend. They were moving like they were stealthy but felt like they owned the place.

  Protocol required him to call out before striking. “Who the hell are you?” He shouted even as he lunged forward. The person he was assailing had the reflexes of a cat apparently. They had struck out by instinct alone it seemed, and Marshall was lucky to have blocked most of it even as his swing brought his baton to the man’s head. It had the effect of staggering the intruder and Marshall struck again to finish this quickly. It was obvious that this guy wasn’t going to lie down and give up. The guy fell over, seemingly spent. Marshall took a couple of depth breaths and then moved in to roll the man over. White foam dripped from his lips. The man had evidently poisoned himself. Whatever poison it was, it acted fast, real fast. The white foam was actually eating into the flesh. Marshall backed up a step to see how far it would drip. The stuff only dripped for a few more seconds and Marshall went for the man’s ID.

  “So, you are Dominic. Tina told us about you.” He muttered under his breath. “Why are you here?” He asked, then he put two and two together and was suddenly nervous. “You knew that we had been here. The tall man was close to discovering the kids!” He said aloud. He began to rummage through the dead man’s pockets for anything that might link him back to the tall man. He moved the body to the interrogation room and began tagging and marking everything about what Dominic was wearing or had implanted. Full scans and full forensic markings. Any of this might be the evidence he was looking for. He would need more help to complete this task and it might not even be safe here. But he was compelled to continue. He called for back-up reporting a suicide in the lower decks. He turned on his beacon to guide his fellow detectives to him. He needed the backup right now. He knew that instinctively. He had photographed and catalogued almost everything by the time the first duty officer arrived, and he allowed immediate access.

  “What happened here?” The officer asked.

  Marshall looked up as if for the first time. “Oh sorry.” He began. “I was making a preliminary sweep of this facility because there had been activity in it that could not be explained. I had made no real conclusion when this fellow bypassed the outer security and came in. When I asked him who he was, he attacked me. I defended myself and when it looked like I was about to capture him, he just died. When I rolled him over, he had corrosive foam coming from his mouth.” Marshall told the truth about all of this so the cameras could correlate it all.

  “I began the investigation on who this guy is and tried to find out why he is here.” He continued. He handed over the small evidence bag with the ID in it. “His name was Dominic.” Marshall declared.

  The ID had a second layer of encoding in it that was not visible to the naked eye. The officer’s scan proved that Dominic was connected on a high level. “Oh my God, what have you done here?” He asked. Marshall looked confused.

  “What do you mean? I just told you what happened.” He said in defense.

  “This man is high level security.” He declared. He held up the scanner to the ID and showed it to Marshall. “His death will begin a huge investigation into all of us now.” He said. “I’m going to need a full statement from you and camera logs. We have got to document everything to cover our asses.” He said.

  Marshall nodded solemnly. “Of course. We will do the right thing.” He said. “We cannot let this be a mark on the department.” He added to reassure the officer.

  The officer was satisfied with Marshall’s response and took another moment to examine the body. “What kind of sick bastard takes a death pill anyway?” He asked absently.

  Marshall shook his head. “I guess one who had something to hide that he didn’t want us to find.” He ventured.

  “I want facts, not supposition.” The officer replied. Marshall backed away.

  “Of course, I’ll go get you those camera recordings.” He offered and with a nod he was gone. He would flee the scene if he thought he could get away with it. But that was not very likely. Instead he did indeed go to collect the data logs. The cameras had to have recorded everything. He now hoped that they did for he had told the truth and those logs would only strengthen his alibi. Not that he needed one, but you didn’t take chances in cases like this one. The book of justice was crushing when thrown at you. He hoped to avoid that certain outcome.

  The monitor area was small and cramped. It was obvious that this was only for one person to view at a time. The screen was turned off and Marshall reached out and tapped the on button. The screen came up dimly at first but grew brighter over time. The cameras were still running. He watched as the officer was kneeling over the body. The man was being suspiciously quiet, but this was an abandoned area after all. Then the officer shot the body three times. Marshall felt his nerves stand on end. The only reason he could think of to shoot a dead body was to cover up how he had died. His paranoid mind also deduced that the gun that just shot Dominic would probably end up on him after he was unable to prevent it. The camera footage was the evidence he needed. But could he get it before the officer came to collect it and him? He moved quickly. The data was downloading even as Marshall pulled his own firearm. This whole deal was going sour fast. It was a wonder how the officer had no badge number and no name tag. The fact hadn’t clicked with him at first and he was suddenly angry with himself for missing such an obvious clue. The download completed just as the officer knocked on the security door.

  “Be right with you.” Marshall replied as if finishing the laundry before entertaining guests.

  The knock came again, this time more insistent. “Open the door now!” The officer screamed. “You might be tampering with evidence in there.” He added, to plant the seeds into the video footage. He was unaware or didn’t care that his gunshots
had been recorded as well. Perhaps he expected to edit them out after he obtained the recordings. Marshall knew that he couldn’t allow that to happen.

  “There’s only room enough for one in here, honestly, I’ll be right with you.” He said as he started a second copy of the data files. He wondered if there was enough time to complete them. If not, his plan might well fail. The kids needed him to succeed. He had others depending upon him for their very lives. The files completed and he popped the memory device out quickly and switched off the monitor again.

  He opened the door and the officer looked startled. “I told you it was tight in here.” He said indicating the tiny space. “If you had come in, we would have had trouble getting out of that cramped bit of closet.” He added. Then he handed the second copy of the data. “Here’s the camera logs just like you asked.” He said, volunteering the information as if he believed this man’s complete story. He did just catch the hint of a smile on the officer’s face.

  “Good, we’ll just go down to the station and take that statement then.” He said as if nothing was wrong.

  “Of course. I have business there too.” Marshall replied playing along. As long as it looked like he was unaware of a problem, he would stay living. The two moved down the corridor and then out of the security door. The officer turned and secured the lock once more and then scrambled the access codes with an illegal device. Marshall pretended not to see this and moved along towards the lifts. To all appearances, he looked motivated to get this done and over with. To be honest, the officer felt much the same way about the whole affair. The only difference was the potential outcomes.

  The lifts were just ahead, and Marshall made a show of patting his pockets. “My ID.” He said, looking suddenly frantic. “My passwords were all in that.” He elucidated. This piqued the officer’s interest. With that ID, he could find out everything that this detective knew and thus secure the information for his boss. It was an opportunity that he just couldn’t pass up.