Necrotic Earth

by SW Matthews

  The vans pulled into the hospital parking lot. Doc got out and went back to talk to Elvis, the leader of the panther team, which was riding in the other van.

  “Our friend is safe,” he told the compact man as he stepped out of the passenger seat. “So I guess we don’t need your help after all.”

  “The villain has been defeated already?” Elvis said. “Excellent! What else can we assist you with? Sepe was adamant about making sure you were safe and your mission was completed.”

  Doc shook his head. “I don’t know. We’ll just go try and find my nephews now, I suppose. In China.”

  Elvis nodded slowly. “Hmm, China. Yes, you will need security. I and two of my best will accompany you.” He banged on the side of the van. “Rico! Luis! Move out!”

  The back door opened, and two men jumped out. Each was dressed like Elvis, with gray and black camouflage fatigues, black boots, belt, and gloves, and both carried rifles. One was short, dark, young, and obviously excited. The other was older, possibly older than Elvis, bald, and reserved.

  “This is Dr. Braxton,” Elvis said to his two soldiers. “The three of us are going to provide security for him and his crew while they complete their duties.”

  “In Lakeland?” asked the young soldier.

  “That mission has been canceled. We are going to China.”

  “China? All of us?”

  “Yes, China, but just the three of us. This is just a security mission now.” Elvis turned back to Doc. “You met Porfirio, correct?”

  “Yes, he was a great help.”

  “Rico is his older brother.” Elvis motioned toward the young soldier. “And this is my second in command, Luis.” The old soldier nodded.

  “Nice to meet both of you, and thanks for your help, but I really don’t think we need any—”

  Elvis held up his hands. “You do not understand, Dr. Braxton. Sepe instructed me to make sure you finished your mission. I understand that the part you were worried about, the dangerous part of rescuing your friend, is no longer necessary, but you are not through yet, are you? Traveling to pick up your nephews should not be too dangerous, which is why I am going to relieve the rest of the team, but I will not disobey Sepe. Luis, Rico, and I will see the job completed.”

  Doc could see the discussion was over. “Thank you.”

  Elvis turned to Nis, the driver of his van. She was talking to Jaq, who had also exited the first van and was now standing at her window. “Nissa, please take the rest of the panthers to the hub.”

  “Make one of them drive!” she said. “I want to stay here with Jaq. I haven’t seen him in a while.”

  “You are the driver. You will take them back. You are not part of this mission.”

  Elvis, Rico, Luis, and Doc walked off to the other van.

  Nis shook her head at Jaq. “What a dick,” she huffed. “Guess I’ll chauffer these little kittens back to the hub. Why don’t you come with me? I’ve got a new tattoo I want to show you.” Her eyes sparkled mischievously.

  Jaq smiled. “Sounds fun, but I’ve got to go with them. Dr. Skorz wants me to keep an eye on Ms. Kat. She’s still very weak.”

  Nis shrugged. “Your loss, Jaquero.”

  He leaned in and kissed her. “I know.”

  They were both smiling as the van pulled out of the parking lot and disappeared around the corner.

  Jaq returned to his van and slid into the driver’s seat. Rosie glared at him from the passenger side.

  “Have you guys known each other a long time?” she asked.

  “We grew up together,” Jaq said. “We raced together. She’s a better driver than I am, and she still races some.”

  “So is she a criminal, too?”

  Jaq laughed. “I guess you could say that. Sepe offered to pay for her college, but she didn’t want to go, so she just works for him.”

  “So it’s pretty serious, huh?”

  “No, Nis isn’t serious about anything. We dated for a long time, but it changed when I went to school. We still… hook up, occasionally, but I think we both know it’s never going to be anything serious.”

  “You’re not in love with her, you mean?”

  “Oh no, I do love her. She’s one of my best friends. But we could never be married. We aren’t right for each other for that type of commitment. She’s not the one.”

  “How do you know?”

  Jaq looked at Rosie, and their eyes met. Slowly they both began to smile. “I just know,” he said.

  ***

  At the back of the van the doors were open and Doc had completed the introductions between Kat and the panthers. When he was finished, Kat spoke up.

  “If Dad is able to continue with the attack, we could get caught in the middle of it. We need to keep trying to stop him.”

  “But the boys are all alone over there,” Doc said. “They need us!”

  “I know, Billy, but we can’t help them if we get shot down. We can’t heal like they can. Believe me, I want to fly straight to China as fast as possible and find my sons, but we have to be smart about this. There’s too much at stake.”

  Doc sat on the floor of the van and shook his head. “But how? How can we possibly stop him? It’s up to Cole now.”

  “We can’t rely on that. We have to see this through. He’s our father. We need to try.”

  Doc sighed. “So… what? You want to go to Rainier?”

  “Cole said he was meeting Dad there, right? Your friends in the helijet can take us.”

  “They may not be willing to help after they find out about Tuck. They might just turn around, go hide in Lakeland, and try to forget any of this ever happened. I wouldn’t blame them.”

  “If they don’t want to take us, we’ll just use the Braxton pilot you called, although it would be better to take an untraceable helijet.”

  Doc sighed and looked at Elvis. “Seems our plans have changed again, Elvis. Have you ever been to Rainier Island?”

  “No, I have not, Dr. Braxton, but I look forward to it. We go to meet with your father?”

  “Well, I suppose you could say that. We need to stop him.”

  “You mean by killing him?”

  “That wouldn’t be easy.”

  “I have killed many men, Dr. Braxton. It is never easy.”

  “No, I guess it wouldn’t be, but Dad is different. I’m not even sure he can be killed.”

  “If he bleeds, we can kill him.”

  “Well, let’s hope we don’t have to find out. Let’s just try to stop him.”

  “As you wish, Dr. Braxton.”

  A quiet whoosh sounded from above, and the men looked skyward. A Braxton helijet with one nonfunctional prop was approaching the landing pad.

  “That’s Andy and Piper,” said Doc. “I’d better go tell them about Tuck.”

  Kat smiled. “You’ll be fine. You’ve always been good at this type of thing.”

  Doc looked at his sister sadly. “I’ve always loved my job, Kat. I’ve always felt like it was what I was supposed to do with my life. The surgeries were always pretty easy for me, you know? And helping the kids I operated on, and giving hope to their families… it was rewarding in a way that I don’t think would be possible by running a business or working in a lab. But telling a family that their loved one died… that was the only time I ever envied you or Dad. It was the only time I ever questioned my choices. It’s the hardest thing in the world, and it feels like it takes a piece of me away every time. It’s why I had to retire when I did.”

  He turned and started toward the landing pad.

  Chapter 53

  “How did that feel?”

  Tuck opened his eyes and blinked a few times. His surroundings began to come into focus. William Braxton the Sixth was standing in front of him, holding a handgun, its barrel still smoking. He had an evil grin on his face.

  “The feeling of your body being violated like that. The bullet penetrating your skin, breaking bones, puncturing your lungs and heart, then exploding out of
your back, taking your flesh and spine with it. The realization that your heart has stopped and your lungs are full of blood. Terrifying, isn’t it? Too shocked to feel the pain as you gradually lose consciousness.”

  Braxton forcefully lifted Tuck’s face to his. “But then you don’t die! Your body heals. Quickly, and painfully! Your brain comes back first, and you become aware of the repairs your body is performing, and it hurts! Especially repairing specialized tissues like heart, lungs, and spine. That was a real concern with the serum; some of the test subjects couldn’t handle the pain. It wasn’t easy to bypass that aspect with Luc and his friends.” He motioned toward the large hooded man, “but we figured it out. We simply removed the part of the body that cares about the pain. Another company developed an impressive system of artificial intelligence and we simply installed that into the CNS troops, after removing their brains. Essentially creating totally loyal robots with self-healing human bodies. The perfect soldier.

  “The pain and stress of the repairs are completely irrelevant to the CNS troops, but not to you. No, you fully felt the blood leaving your lungs as you started to breathe again, and the blood beginning to pump through your body as your heart resumed function. Finally, all of the layers are back to normal, and the pain makes it seem like an eternity, but the entire process actually occurs very rapidly.”

  He sat on the edge of his desk, facing the bound man. “I am amazed every day at the effectiveness of the serum. I still cannot believe that fool Cregor was able to accomplish something of such importance. Of course, it was an accident, and he only did it by using unconventional methods, but the ends justify the means, I suppose. Better to be lucky than good, huh? Lucky for him, since he was not good at anything. Really one of the biggest buffoons I have ever met.

  “My daughter, though, that’s a different story. She’s brilliant. A truly exceptional mind. Her only fault was falling in love with that idiot. But he’s gone now, and she’s back. What I need to know from you is: where is she?”

  Tuck looked around the room, then back to Braxton. “She’s not here.”

  Braxton sighed. He nodded at Luc.

  Luc stepped forward and backhanded Tuck across the face.

  Tuck spit some blood out, then looked back at Braxton. “Have you looked out on the deck?” he asked.

  Braxton shook his head. “Mr. Zann, you understand that I could have Luc rip your arms off and beat you with them? Or I could cut you in half and throw your legs into the ocean? And you would live through it, but suffer tremendously until you begged me to cut your head off. Or, I could just continue to beat and shoot and stab you until your body reached its injury threshold and the serum transforms your entire body into a puddle of slime. I am trying to be diplomatic with you.”

  Tuck smiled. “Diplomacy is just a way to stall until your snipers are in place.”

  Braxton smiled too. “I agree with that, Mr. Zann, and you are quite a sniper. That shot you made was one for the history books. Unfortunately, it will not be credited to you. You see, a Chinese terrorist has taken responsibility for the kill. He’s actually a mechanic, and I doubt if he’s ever even fired a weapon in his entire life, but it doesn’t matter. The world believes he killed Porter, which was the final push I needed to launch the attack against China.”

  The commlink on Braxton’s desk came alive, and he walked around and activated it.

  “Will, the CNS teams are away,” said Secretary of Defense Sullivan.

  “Excellent, Sully. Let me know when the targets are secured.”

  “Of course. Also, there is some activity in China.”

  “To be expected. The EMP blasts would surely clarify our intentions. You’re not concerned, are you?”

  “Not overly concerned, but they’ve moved some of their satellites, and they’re prepping some of their military airbases. They’ve also deployed some type of robot force along the coast and around Lhasa and Kashgar.”

  “Robot force?”

  “Yes. I’m trying to gather intel, but so far we know nothing about them.”

  Braxton thought for a moment. “Okay. Track the satellites and be ready to destroy them, and have the airports targeted too. Also have the cyber-warfare section prepared to disable their missile defense system, just in case. And go ahead and send in the troops.”

  “What about Cole?”

  “Don’t worry about Cole. He’ll be here shortly, and I assure you, he’ll be on board with us. Just give the order to attack.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The call ended, and Braxton turned back to Tuck. “You see? You accomplished nothing. The attack is underway. Soon China will be a concern only for historians, and we will have taken a huge step toward the survival of our species.”

  Tuck looked directly into Braxton’s eyes. “I know why you hated Hoff so much.”

  Braxton suppressed a grin. “Becoming a psychoanalyst now, Mr. Zann?”

  “No, I’m a sniper, but that means I can see what’s in front of me, and I pay attention.”

  “Well by all means, please enlighten me.”

  “He was just like you. An arrogant, horse-shit crazy asshole.”

  Braxton nodded at Luc, who lifted Tuck from the chair and threw him across the room.

  Chapter 54

  Construction of the government campus was begun shortly after the USA and Canada joined to form UNA. Several parcels of land were acquired on the north side of Calgary for the project, the goal of which was to house all branches of the new government in one location. The idea was similar to Washington, DC, which had been damaged by the catastrophe and then totally decimated, along with the rest of the eastern seaboard, by the war that followed. The construction was completed quickly, and American Alley, as the campus was called, was officially opened in 2063, a mere eight years after the plans were first approved.

  Secretary Sullivan was in his office in the Defense Tower. After hanging up with William Braxton the Sixth, he poured himself a drink and walked to the large window overlooking the Alley. People were rushing around the concrete walkway below, coming and going, many headed toward the president’s mansion on the far west end. He would need to go there soon. The rest of the cabinet was likely already there, all waiting for the new president.

  He swallowed the last of the whiskey in his glass, walked back to his desk, and activated his comm station.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Vick, get me the Pence.”

  The line rang several times before it was answered.

  “Hello?” said an unfamiliar voice.

  “This is Admiral Sullivan. With whom am I speaking?”

  “Ensign Karl, sir,” came the shaky response.

  Sullivan shook his head. Vick usually connected him directly to the captain’s direct line in his office. “Let me speak to the captain, son.”

  “Uh, no can do, sir.”

  “Come again, Ensign?”

  “I’m sorry, sir. The captain is… not available.”

  “Son, maybe I didn’t make myself clear. I am the Secretary of Defense, Admiral Sullivan, and I need you to put the captain on the phone. Now.”

  “He’s dead, sir.”

  “What?”

  “Shot himself, sir. Here in his office. We’re cleaning it up now.”

  Sullivan gritted his teeth. Newman! The old captain had acted a bit dicey after being given his orders, but Sullivan had never expected this. “Fine, get me the XO.”

  “He’s dead too, sir.”

  “You’re kidding me.”

  “No, sir. Looks like the cap shot him first, then himself.”

  Sullivan leaned on his desk and closed his eyes. The Pence was the lead ship and held the majority of the troops. It was critical that he get those soldiers deployed immediately.

  There was a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” said Sullivan.

  in a naval uniform stepped into the room. “Sir, we’ve just received word from the Pence. Captain Newman—”

  Sully
silenced him with an upraised hand. “I know, son. I know.”

  The young man turned and left, quietly closing the door behind him.

  “Ensign, are you still there?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Transfer me to the air boss.”

  ***

  Word of the murder-suicide spread quickly through the ship, and rumors swirled. Many of them had to do with sex. The captain was having an affair with the XO’s wife, or vice versa, or they were having an affair together. Others speculated money was the cause. One of them owed the other money, or one of them owed someone else money and the other had sold him out.

  Commander Jacob wasn’t buying any of it. He would let the crew enjoy their gossip, but he knew the truth. He was an old, done man. He didn’t have the stomach for war anymore. He never wanted this mission, and he tried to back out. The XO tried to stop him.

  His comm station came alive, and he answered. “This is Jacob.”

  “Commander Jacob, this is the Secretary of Defense, Admiral Sullivan. How are you holding up, son?”

  Jacob’s stomach dropped at the realization of whom he was talking to. “Fine, sir.”

  “Good, good. Quite a tragedy. Captain Newman was a good man. He served his country well for many years.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I don’t know what happened in there, and right now it doesn’t matter, does it?”

  “No, sir.”

  “You understand the importance of this mission?”

  “I think so, sir.”

  “I need you to know so, Commander. I’m going to give you some privileged information, son. This is between you and me, understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “The Chinese are aiming to wipe us off the map. They want total domination of the planet, and once we’re gone, they’ll have no competition. This attack is our last chance to stop them. It’s the last chance for our country to survive. They’ve been strategic so far—attacking our main supplier’s home, assassinating the president. But now they’re preparing for a full-scale attack on our home soil. We can’t let that happen, can we?”

  “No, sir.”