The Drellic Saga: Books One, Two and Three

by Mike Marlinski

Chapter Two

  It was a cold, wintery day at Langley Air Force Base, on January 8th, 2032. A dark green combat helicopter had just landed in front of a large hangar. The rusty metal door on the chopper’s side was flung open, as its blades continued to spin overhead.

  A tall soldier, dressed from head to toe in camouflage and armed with an assault rifle, hopped down to the ground. He then turned around and extended his hand to Simone West-Hammond, who had been seated behind him. She took his hand and jumped to the ground. A moment later, the helicopter’s side door was slammed shut, by someone inside. The chopper then promptly took off, leaving Simone and her escort behind on a black concrete runway, beside the giant gray hangar.

  “You’ll need to check in with the Admiral,” said the soldier.

  “The Admiral knows why I’m here,” Simone snapped. “I was told I’d have immediate transportation to Greenlawn.”

  “You will,” he assured her. “Right after The Admiral asks you a few questions, ma’am.”

  “This is ridiculous,” she muttered. “When I was last stationed here, I didn’t have to answer to the military.”

  “Whether you like it or not ma’am, you live in a military state now. Now, please follow me,” he ordered.

  The soldier then quickly walked over to a small side door on the hangar. He opened it and held it open for her, giving her a slightly arrogant smile, as she stepped forward.

  But just before stepping through the doorway, she looked the soldier in the eye and said, “One day soon, when new elections are held, and the military is forced to answer to a civilian government again, you’re going to have to wipe that fucking smirk off your face.”

  With that, she stormed off into the dark hangar, as the soldier slammed the door behind her and locked it. She was startled by the sound of the door and fearfully looked around, realizing that she was seemingly alone and locked inside the shadowy room.

  “Hello?” she called out.

  Her voice echoed throughout the hangar, causing her to be even more on edge. A second later, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, from the shadows ahead.

  “Who’s there?! What is this?!” she loudly demanded.

  “Just a moment,” she heard an older man say, in the distance. “Just give me a second to get this power situation figured out,” he added.

  Seconds later, bright spotlights clicked on overhead, revealing one of Drellic’s automated defense drones. Its gleaming blue eye was just a few feet away from Simone’s head. She jumped back with fear and let out a shrill scream.

  “No, it’s OK!” the man said. Simone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a tall, elderly Caucasian man approaching her. She knew it was The Admiral, which was the only name she had ever heard anyone refer to him by, on her trip back to Langley. He stood 6 feet tall and was wearing a formal black military jacket. Gold bands marked the ends of his sleeves, and the jacket was pinned together by two rows of golden buttons, leading up to a series of multi-colored pins and medals on his chest.

  The Admiral pointed at the drone and said, “Don’t worry. It’s unarmed. They all are. We were just performing some tests before the power went out. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  Simone looked around the hangar in awe, to see that it was filled with other drones, recon ships and high-tech laser weapons, all of Drellic’s design. The Admiral extended his hand to Simone and introduced himself as Admiral David Clement. She then reluctantly removed her thick, black winter gloves and shook his hand.

  “Is this a Darkside Facility?” she asked.

  “No. Far from it. Darkside is long gone. Or, at least, it’s not what it used to be,” Clement answered.

  “What do you mean?” Simone asked. “I thought there were no survivors.”

  “In a way, you’re right. To be considered a survivor, you’d have to be human,” Clement said.

  He then pointed to a glass booth in the far corner of the hangar and said, “You look like you could use some coffee. So could I. What do you say, you have a seat in my office? I promise I won’t take much of your time. I know how important getting to Greenlawn, is to you. I knew Jack and Maureen pretty well.”

  “You knew my parents?” asked Simone.

  Clement nodded and replied, “I did. We went through a lot together in the old days.”

  Simone cautiously followed him to the glass booth. Clement, seeing that she was still on pins and needles, smiled at her and said, “Don’t worry. No one’s going to hurt you here. But we do have a lot to discuss about your future.”

  Simone removed her black fur coat and matching hat. She then reluctantly sat on a crude wooden stool in front of Admiral Clement’s desk, and glanced around the room at the miscellaneous military memorabilia, hanging on the walls.

  The Admiral coughed a bit, to clear his throat and sat behind his desk. His OCD was getting the better of him, as he spent several seconds repositioning the paper weights and papers in front of him.

  He then smiled at Simone and exclaimed, “Well, first, let me start by saying that I’m so glad to see you survived. Your parents would’ve been so proud of everything you’ve accomplished.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she replied. “But if you don’t mind, I’d like to cut to the chase. I spent the better part of my career, being accustomed to living in a country not governed by Marshall Law.”

  “Desperate times and desperate measures, ma’am,” The Admiral said. “Nothing more. Nothing less. Drellic led humanity to ruin. We’re picking up the pieces, the best way we know how. Factions led by would-be communist dictators, have been springing up left and right. Some right here in the US. Half of them were traitors, while Drellic was here.”

  “And which side did you fight for?” Simone quickly asked.

  Clement was thrown off by the question and paused, before clearing his throat again. “What was that?” he asked. Though, Simone knew he had heard her the first time.

  “I asked which side you took during the Drellic Regime,” she replied insinuatingly.

  “I’m a patriot, ma’am. I fought for freedom. Had to kill some of my best friends to do it too,” he answered, in a cold tone. He then rose from his chair and glared down at Simone, in a manner she was quite used to. Clement was beginning to remind of her of Mandrake more and more, as time went on.

  “Lady, you have no idea of the trouble you’re in, do you?” he asked. “I assume you’ve heard of Winston Severov?”

  “Severov? You mean the Russian interrogation specialist from Darkside? Did he survive?” Simone asked.

  Clement chuckled and replied, “He survived and then some. He betrayed his country for Drellic and went insane because of it. Now, he’s running Darkside from Moscow.” “That doesn’t make sense,” Simone said suspiciously. “Darkside was a joint effort by the most powerful nations in the world. One Russian couldn’t have assumed control of it. The others wouldn’t allow it.”

  Clement laughed again. “What others?” he asked. “The last survivors of Darkside, aside from yourself, are in Moscow and are under Severov’s command. He’s taken it underground. Rumor has it, he’s looking for you, your husband and Maryann Santos. Long story short, you shouldn’t have dumped Drellic’s body on Mars, last year. Big mistake.”

  He paused again to clear his throat, then went on to say, “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem with the way he died. Hell, I probably would’ve done worse. And I can certainly appreciate the irony of returning him to the place of his birth, to watch him die with the remains of his ancestors, in an untainted world. All the son of a bitch ever talked about, was how inferior and unworthy we all were, here on Earth. Believe me. I get it. The only problem is, Mars might’ve been a little more tainted than you, or even he realized.”

  Simone was baffled by The Admiral’s words. Before then, she had no idea that anyone on Earth was even aware of her excursion to the Red Planet, to dispose of Drellic’s remains.

  Clement noti
ced her reaction, scoffed and said, “Before you even ask me how I knew about that, consider all the technology, you just saw hanging out in the next room. All of those recon ships are on the same network. Their flight recorders are linked. I saw everything. The problem is, so did Winston. Even worse, he has the exact ship, the three of you took there.”

  Simone thought back to their return from Mars, in May of 2031. They had left their ship in the ruins of Sydney, amidst a pile of other junked technology, which Drellic had been responsible for. Callum, Simone and Maryann had returned to Sydney to oversee the destruction of Delendra Tower, which was just a small part of an extensive celebration to mark the end of Drellic’s rule.

  They remained in the city for the next seven months, right up until Christmas 2031 and New Year’s 2032, to aid the reforming government, in their efforts to salvage the remaining bits and pieces of civilization in Australia.

  After the New Year’s celebration, they went their separate ways. The ship they had stolen from Drellic’s people was left behind. She thought it had been destroyed as part of the celebration, along with dozens of other vehicles, weapons and structures, Drellic had been the architect of.

  Maryann returned to Houston, to meet her friends from the old resistance. Callum had gone to his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, to look for his parents, who were rumored to still be alive, while Simone was in the process of returning to her hometown of Newport News, Virginia, to visit her parents’ graves at Greenlawn Cemetary. She and Callum had arranged to meet the next day, at Langley Air Force Base, very near to where Simone was having her unpleasant conversation with Clement.

  “I don’t understand this,” Simone said, with an uneasy tone. “Why does Winston care if we went to Mars?”

  “That I don’t know,” Clement answered. “I was never part of Darkside. I was actually hoping you could tell me. We need to know everything about this man. Supposedly, something happened on Mars and you people were at the center of it.”

  Simone desperately thought back to her years with the organization, but couldn’t recall a single time Mars had been mentioned to her in a practical sense.

  “I honestly don’t know anything about it. I have no idea why he’s looking for us. Are you saying he’s trying to kill us?” she asked.

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” said Clement. “And unfortunately, he has the technology and the men, to do it rather quickly and efficiently. He’s already carried out several executions in Russia and other parts of Europe. Every time we try to move on him, he moves his operation, leaving behind no trace and we end up back at square one. He’s a shifty son of a bitch.”

  “Why is he killing people?” asked Simone. “So far, we can’t establish any connection between the victims, other than the fact that they all claimed to have friends or relatives living on Mars, and that the government had put them there and were withholding information about them,” Clement replied.

  Simone thought back for a few more minutes, all the while, becoming extremely upset. She refused to believe that the organization she had been a part of for all that time, was conducting business on Mars without her knowledge.

  “So you really don’t know anything?” Clement asked her.

  “No, I don’t. I’m at a loss for words about all of this,” Simone replied.

  “That’s unfortunate. The less you know, the more vulnerable you are. You’ll never see Winston coming,” Clement said. “It may be in your best interest to stay on the premises, ma’am. For your own safety. You’re supposed to be meeting your husband here tomorrow, anyways. Assuming Severov hasn’t found him yet.”

  “Don’t even fucking say that,” Simone snapped. Her emotions were showing through her tough exterior more and more, as the moments dragged by. “And I won’t be staying here, either. If this man is as efficient of a killer as you say, and has trained assassins at his disposal, then he might be able to kill me here, just as easily as out there on the road. I have even more a reason to visit my parents’ graves now. This might be my last opportunity.”

  The Admiral looked her over, as if to measure her sincerity, and asked, “You’re positive about that?”

  “One hundred percent,” Simone quickly answered. “But I couldn’t help but notice that you’re sitting on that stockpile of Drellic tech. I could use one of those laser rifles, if you have them. I’ll also take one of those attack drones. I learned how to program them, from watching his men in Sydney, while I was held hostage.”

  “I’ll give you what you’ve asked for,” Clement began, hesitantly. “But know this. We’ve been working night and day to put this unit together, but we still don’t know what we’re up against; not entirely. Once you leave here, you’re on your own. I’m not lending you any of my people. There aren’t many of us left as it is.”

  “I understand, sir. And thank you,” Simone said, as she rose to her feet, put on her hat and coat, and headed for the door, leading back into the hangar.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Clement asked.

  “Like I said. I know what I need and how to use it,” Simone answered, confidently. “I’ll take it from here.”

  Clement just sat back and watched, as Simone casually and efficiently, shopped his storage hangar for the weapons she had requested, along with a few other miscellaneous supplies. She acquired a laser rifle with a strap and slung it over her shoulder. Simone also found an empty, dark green duffle bag and filled it with some energy grenades, several throwing knives and a flashlight. Then, after zipping up the bag, she carried it to the opposite end of the room, where she located the attack drone that had frightened her, when she had first arrived.

  On a work bench next to the drone, was a bulky, rectangular remote control, made from dark carbon composite material. She recognized it immediately, knowing that it was exactly what she needed to reprogram the drone to obey her commands.

  She used the remote to order the drone to scan her face, marking herself as an ally and then gave it the simple task of following her to her car. When she was finished, she made her way back to the side door of the hangar to find that it was still locked. Frustrated, she turned around and looked Clement over with a hint of her familiar, sassy arrogance, while anxiously pointing to the door.

  Clement shook his head in disapproval, then pressed a small red button on his desk, which sent a loud buzzing sound, echoing through the hangar and unlocked the door. With her faithful drone levitating closely behind her, she promptly swung the door open, leaving Clement and his treasure chest of radically advanced weapons and vehicles, behind.

  Clement then sat back behind his desk, let out a long sigh and said, “What a waste. That crazy broad is going to get herself killed.”

  He then looked up, as a man entered his office. It was the same soldier, who had escorted Simone to the hangar, from the helicopter, minutes earlier.

  “Orders, sir?” he asked Clement. “What do you think?” Clement sarcastically replied. “We’re going to let Winston Severov do what he does best. Once she gets out in the open, he’ll find her and make his move.”

  “So, we’re using her as bait?” the soldier asked.

  “Of course,” Clement replied with a smile. “Simone West isn’t going to survive the next 24 hours. She should’ve never come back home. It’s a shame to be sure, but this is our best chance to take out Severov. We can’t follow her. He’d just see us coming and abort his mission. But what we can do, is put a trace on the attack drone she took with her. Then once it starts shooting, we’ll swarm in. Understood?”

  The soldier saluted Clement with a loud, “Yes, sir!”, and left the room, once Clement rose to his feet and returned the salute.

  The Admiral, then walked to a frosty glass window, on the wall to his right. From there, he had a clear view of Simone, packing her things into the trunk of a black 2028 Sedan. It was one of the last working, civilian motor vehicles in the area. Clement had secured it for her when he had learned of he
r intentions to return to Langley.

  Simone slammed the trunk, then opened the back driver’s side door, allowing the gleaming, orb shaped drone, to enter and hover over the backseat. Using the remote, she powered it down and watched its bright blue eye, dim down to total darkness. It then slowly drifted downward and came to a soft stop on the car seat.

  Clement continued to look on, as the massive metal gates, guarding the perimeter of the air base, parted ways, allowing her to drive off into the heavy snowfall.