At Area 51, Dr. Frankenstein is sitting at a table in the dining area taking a sip of his coffee when his phone suddenly rings. Once again, the ID of the caller is unknown. He answers the call. “Indrid?”
“It has happened, Ludwig. We were at the wrong location.”
He slowly rises from his chair and his face becomes exceedingly pale as soon as he gets hit with the reality of what is happening. These false flag events are almost always done to divert public attention away from a previous event or to justify a clandestine operation which may be taking place in the near future. He recalls the time when Operation Northwoods was proposed in 1962 for that purpose.
“They anticipated our involvement, Indrid.”
“Shall I attempt to find the sleeper assassin?”
“No. It is far too late for that now, I'm afraid. The major news organizations will undoubtedly name that person as the perpetrator in a matter of minutes. Just make your way back to Area 51. In the meantime, I'm going to contact Major General Avery right now to get to the bottom of this.”
Dr. Frankenstein disconnects the call and touches Major General Avery's number. After three rings, the Major General is heard saying, “I know the reason for this call, doctor. You know why it had to be done and we simply could not have your team fucking up the operation.”
“There's more to this than disguising what happened in New York, Major General. Do not insult my intelligence. It's about Yersinia pestis, is it not?”
Dr. Frankenstein hears nothing but silence and takes that as an acknowledgement. After several minutes, he tells the Major General, “There is no cure. Whatever you have been told is a lie.”
“I have nothing more to tell you, doctor. Goodbye.”
Dr. Frankenstein slowly lowers the phone and finds himself disgusted with humanity's willingness to flirt with worldwide disaster. Forever doomed to have our history repeat itself over and over. Earth's fate now depends on the outcome of his meeting with Diana Garrison.
Inside of the black van in New Jersey, Rikki turns her head to look at Abigail and asks, “Are you ready, Donna?” Her true name is Donna Lenz. She was recruited by the CIA not only for her exceptional skill as a hypnotist, but also for her natural acting ability. Donna has been used many times before as an eyewitness of tragic events. Each time, of course, with different tones of skin and hair color. Only a person with a very keen eye can recognize her during the various live news broadcasts. While being applied the final touches to her pregnant woman disguise by several people, she nods at Rikki and says, “Ready, Agent Hillman.”
The side door of the van slides open and Donna exits the vehicle. She wastes no time blending in perfectly with the increasing amount of curious, as well as frightened, spectators and quickly gets into character. Pretending to be shocked and terrified is pretty much second nature for her by now. As Donna pushes people aside while holding her belly, she screams, “Let me through! I'm looking for my husband!”
The crowd of people do their best to make a path for her. She finally exits only to be held back by a man behind her. He tells her loudly, “Ma'am, it's not safe! Just wait here for the fire department!”
Donna glances across the street and notices Adam rising up to his feet while also assisting Melanie. She then looks at her watch. The actor playing her husband should be arriving within a few minutes. She looks at the man behind her and asks, “Do you see that kid over there? What's he holding in his hand?”
This makes the man look up at Adam and try to focus on the aforementioned object. It looks like a typical smart-phone to him. But wait...he notices that Adam is focusing more on his phone rather than on the fiery aftermath in front of him. Adam successfully lifts Melanie up to her feet. She holds her head with one hand and holds onto his arm with the other to keep from falling down. He asks, “You okay?”
“Uhhh. Yeah. What happened?”
Adam does not exactly know the answer to that question himself. Once he saw the password being entered on his phone, for some strange reason, his instinct was to take cover to prepare for the explosion of the bomb. He sees a black van parked further down the street and cannot help but think that he has seen it somewhere before. Inexplicably, the eyes of the crowd are on him. What is going on here? Only one thing comes to his mind as a possible answer. He's being set up. He whispers to Melanie, “I have a bad feeling. Let's get out of here.”
While Donna continues to stare at both of them as they depart the scene of the crime, the actor playing her husband arrives and says in a horrified manner, “Megan!”
She hugs him tightly and, while crying hysterically, shouts, “Tim! Thank God you're safe!”
The entire area becomes engulfed by the deafening sounds of numerous sirens as both the fire and police departments make their way to the scene. It does not take that long for the major news networks to park their vans nearby and prepare their reporters for the live broadcast of this catastrophic event to the world.
In the city of New York, Joshua and Alexandria are eating their dinner inside of the Thai food restaurant. Joshua finds it strange that everyone, instead of enjoying their meals, are staring in shock at their smart-phones. As the waiter pours water into the glass, he asks, “Excuse me...Did something just happen?”
The waiter gives him a horror-stricken gaze and replies, “You don't know? There was an explosion inside a movie theater in New Jersey. It's all over the news.”
Alexandria gets a cold chill up her spine and takes her touchscreen tablet out of her purse. Joshua stands up and places his chair next to her. He sits down and observes the live stream of the news report on CNN.
“Once again, it is unclear if this was a terrorist act or simply another incident of a gas leak. We do have an eyewitness here that claims to have seen a young man acting suspiciously just minutes after the explosion. Megan O'Hara. What exactly was it that you saw that made him look suspicious?”
Everyone inside of Area 51 is in a state of shock and no one can say anything about the horrid imagery being shown to the entire nation. They failed to save all of those innocent people inside of the, now demolished, movie theater. Innocent civilians just spending time with their friends and families. Enjoying a good flick before leaving to the comfort of their homes. In a second...it's all gone. Lost in a fiery blaze. Barbara is covering her mouth with both hands while tears stream down her cheeks. She is thinking about how the family of the deceased must be reacting at the gut wrenching news right now. To receive the call which everyone fears. Megan now begins to describe her version of the events which unfolded not too long ago in the once tranquil area of North Brunswick, New Jersey.
“This is just so...Oh, my God!”
Tim embraces her and she wipes the tears from her eyes while gathering up the strength to continue. This is truly an Oscar worthy performance.
“I ran over here to make sure my husband was safe. I saw this kid across the street looking at his phone. I mean, here we are, scared out of our minds, and he's just standing there! Calm and looking at his phone! When he saw that we were looking at him, he ran off with a girl.”
The cameraman focuses on the reporter as she says, “Thank you, Megan. I'm sure the authorities will want to speak with you shortly.”
Dr. Frankenstein stares at the news coverage being displayed on the wall-mounted fifty inch screen with his arms folded and mutters to himself, “The sleeper assassin. That must be him.”
He inserts an ear bud, raises his wrist and says, “Indrid. Scan the area for two youngsters departing that scene. I need to speak with him before his picture gets splattered all over the news.”
“I have already located them, Ludwig. Give me a moment.”
Melanie is trying her best to keep up with Adam but has unfortunately become so tired that her vision becomes blurry. She stops and lays against a tall tree while shouting, “Adam!...Wait!”
He ceases running, turns around and places his hands on his knees while taking deep breaths. He is completely drenched with
sweat and feels himself almost giving in to the temptation of falling down on the grass. Suddenly, they both become startled by the sound of Adam's ringtone. He takes out his phone and first looks at the screen and then at Melanie in a puzzled manner. She rapidly shakes her head indicating to him to not answer the call. Unable to find any other way to resolve his current predicament, he answers the call with the slim hope that everything will get fixed. “Uhhh...hello?”
Dr. Frankenstein is heard saying, “Do as I say if you want to live, Adam.”
“Who is this? What do you want?”
“Not important. There is no time to waste, my boy. You must go to the nearest police station and surrender.”
“But...I didn't do that!”
Melanie takes a step closer and grunts as she feels a sharp sting on the back of her neck. A few seconds later, she loses consciousness and falls to the ground. Adam lowers his phone as he witnesses this and races toward her while screaming, “Melanie!”
He kneels down next to her and shakes her in a panic. Wait. She's not dead! He notices that she is still breathing. Feeling the sensation of someone approaching him, he looks up to find Agent Rikki Hillman pointing a sniper rifle at him. Adam is very certain that he has met this woman before. He stands up and says angrily, “I've seen you before.”
“Nice to see you too, Adam.”
“You're behind all of this. Why?”
“This is called breaking a few eggs, kid. Nothing personal.”
Rikki pulls the trigger and shoots him with a tranquilizer dart. He collapses to the ground shortly afterwards and Dr. Frankenstein can still be heard calling his name frantically. This makes her grin as she recalls what was done to David Stubbe's panic room keypad. She takes her phone and is shocked to find that there is absolutely no signal whatsoever. A blinding flash illuminates the entire park for just a split second. This instinctively makes her put the rifle around her neck using the strap and take out her pistol which has real bullets. She places a silencer on it and scans the surrounding area similar to a huntress searching for her prey.
Rikki hears the rapidly increasing sound of shoes trampling on the grass. She attempts to aim her gun at the individual but her wrist is grabbed tightly and pointed upward. Impossible for a normal person to get into contact with her that quickly! Damn, he's strong! She loses her grip on the weapon and Sajjad head-butts her with such a force, that the right lens of her eyeglasses gets cracked.
Rikki loses her balance and falls to her knees. She recognizes the metallic taste of her own warm blood as it trickles down from her nose and into her mouth. Sajjad tells her frigidly, “If you wish to avoid further pain, I suggest that you remain in that position, madame.”
He is taken aback by her sudden maniacal laughter. She gives him a frightening stare...frightening because her left eye is fine while her right eye is bloodshot...and replies, “You think I'm in pain, little man?”
Sajjad becomes extremely flustered by Rikki's lack of respect and grabs her by the throat. He becomes blinded with rage mostly because of his old fashioned upbringing. He was strictly taught by his father that the man is never to be treated in a condescending manner by a woman. She gasps as she gets lifted to the air and grunts when she gets slammed hard against the tree behind her. Rikki realizes that she touched a sensitive nerve but doesn't give him the pleasure of becoming afraid. Instead, she reveals her blood stained teeth as she starts laughing again. “Now, is this any way to treat a lady?”
Sajjad calms down once he sees that he has lost control of his temper and curses at himself. Dr. Jaeger used to warn him about this reckless behavior constantly. He's the one that taught him restraint and the proper ways that one must live in this country. This woman is a trained assassin, however, so he cannot simply lower her to the ground and apologize. Rikki giggles at him and says, “Pathetic. I bet you're still single, aren't you?”
“Enough! You will not destroy the lives of those children.”
“Take a look behind you, man.”
Sajjad doesn't quite trust her at first and hesitates for a moment. A minute passes and he can no longer resist the temptation to take a quick glance behind him. Standing there are two individuals who both bear a striking resemblance to Adam and Melanie...but upon closer inspection, there does appear to be subtle differences in regards to their facial features. The kid who looks like Adam grins slightly and takes a big puff of his cigarette. Afterwards, he points a handgun at him and makes a gesture to step away from Rikki. Sajjad lifts his wrist and says, “Indrid.”
This makes Rikki chuckle and say, “You think we didn't see this coming? She can't hear you. Now put me down before I have Adam blow out your kneecaps.”
Without any viable options available to him, Sajjad lowers her to the ground and releases his grasp. She nonchalantly removes her eyeglasses and, while observing the cracks, says, “This is much bigger than all of us, Sajjad.”
“I am not surprised that you know my name. What comes next? Are you going to kill me?”
“I should kill you for ruining my fucking glasses. But I feel generous today. Tell Dr. Frankenstein not to worry about the kids. I'm sure he knows the procedure.”
Rikki picks up her gun from the ground and, while walking away, says, “It's been fun, Sajjad. Send my regards to David.”
A black van parks nearby and Sajjad watches them until they all enter the vehicle. As soon as it departs, he raises his wrist and says, “Indrid.”
“Sajjad. Something odd happened. My ship was somehow...malfunctioning. It was unresponsive. Are you safe?”
“Yes. We arrived too late. They have already been taken away and replaced with actors.”
“The CIA seems to be using some sort of newly discovered technology. I can no longer track them.”
Sajjad does not say anything in response. Indrid can sense his overwhelming disappointment and says, “Prepare for teleportation.”
Frank Garrison is at his home intently watching the news in complete aghast of the events unfolding in his own state of New Jersey. There is still no knowledge of whether or not this was domestic terrorism or a matter of a gas leak within the theater. The reporter on the scene is about to speak so Frank decides to raise the volume.
“We just received word that the FBI has obtained the surveillance footage and the agents are in the process of viewing it in hopes of discovering the identities of the two individuals that fled the scene. I'm presently joined by retired explosives expert, Layne Darrell. Mr. Darrell. From your years of experience in dealing with explosives and deadly chemical reactions. What can you tell us? Does this look like the result of a gas leak or a bomb?”
“Well, Kendall, it's a bit early to come to any kind of definitive conclusion. Per common procedure, the debris has to be tested for the presence of RDX, TNT, PETN, TATP and other organic explosives. What I can tell the public is what I've observed up to this point. If it was a gas explosion, two major things needed to have happened later on. The first needed to be an instantaneously dissipated flame and the second an enormous, widespread pressure wave. Neither of the two has happened here.”
Frank lowers the volume and sits back in his sofa to take a moment and think clearly about what was just informed by Layne Darrell. From his early personal experiences, he is leaning very close to the opinion that a bomb was used tonight. His cell phone begins to ring and he sees that it's Joshua calling. “Hey, Josh. Yeah, I know...I'm watching the news right now.”
Something on his television screen captures his attention. The news network is showing the surveillance footage of one of the suspects. That certainly was pretty fast in regards to the FBI allowing the footage to be shown. He looks familiar...no...it can't be. Adam? He tells Joshua, “I need to check something out, kid. Let me call you back.”
Frank hangs up and fumbles with the TV remote for a few seconds until he finally succeeds in raising the volume. While paying full attention to the news, he whispers to himself, “No fucking way this is happening.”
/> “The identity of this young man is still not known up to this point, Bethany. We are urging the public to study the footage on our website and inform the authorities if any of you are aware of who the suspect is. It is also not yet known if he had something to do with this tragedy, but he is wanted nevertheless for questioning.”
Frank's phone starts ringing once more. He picks it up and is saddened to see that the person calling is Adam's mother, Edna Eastman. What can he tell her? He is just as baffled as she may be. He answers the call and says, “Edna. I'm just as shocked as you are.”
All that is heard on the other line is the sobbing of a distraught mother trying to cope with what her own son is being accused of. A nice kid who always kept to himself and stayed out of trouble. He didn't even drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes for God's sake. Where did this random act of violence come from? Adam's not as stupid as to take the lives of innocent people simply because he was rejected by his childhood sweetheart. He's way smarter than to make that immoral, as well as sadistic, decision and flushing his future down the toilet.
“Listen to me, Edna. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. I promise you, okay? Has he called you?”
With a quivering voice, she replies, “No. He hasn't. I tried calling him but it goes straight to voicemail.”
“All right. He probably turned his phone off. You hang in there, Edna. I'm gonna make a few calls.”
“Help him, please. Thank you, Frank.”
The call disconnects and Frank gradually lowers his phone. He places it next to his leg and folds his hands together while attempting to make sense of this perplexing enigma. Poor Alex. He's gotta be out there running for his life and scared out of his mind. This has to be a setup. No doubt about it. The first step for tonight is to get in touch with his contact who is still actively involved with secretive covert operations. These activities are hidden from the public for many reasons and he understands this completely. Adam, however, is a good kid and doesn't deserve to made a patsy. The second step is to figure out what the bomb was composed of. Once he acquires that information, the pieces of the puzzle will definitely fall into place. He only hopes that Alex manages to survive this night of insanity.
Rise of the Fallen: Ascensionis Page 16