by James Hunt
The blow that struck Jake’s face knocked him off the table and sent him flat on the ground. He wobbled on the floor, disoriented. He could feel his lip and cheek swell up at the point of contact. When he pushed his face up from the floor, drips of blood splattered underneath him. The commander was fast.
Before he had the ability or coherence to pick himself up, Commander Claire yanked him off the ground and slammed him on the table. Jake gripped his hands around the commander’s wrists, attempting to peel him off, but failed.
“I’ll make this real simple for you,” Claire said. “If you ever come back here again, I will have you shot on sight, do you understand?”
Jake’s vision blurred and the commander’s face had multiplied three-fold. The throbbing pain in the back of his skull eroded any ability to determine which one to focus on.
“And if you ever talk about my sister again, I won’t just kill you…I’ll make you hurt.”
The front of Jake’s face went completely numb, but even with all of the pain that consumed him, he still felt the final blow from the commander’s fist that caused everything to go black.
***
Luis marched out of the room, leaving Jake’s motionless body in his wake. “I want that piece of shit out of here now.”
“Yes, sir.” Two MPs entered to retrieve the body, and Luis stormed out of the building and into the cool, wet air. The rainclouds above were misting rain. Water droplets collected over his knuckles, mixing with the blood still lingering there. He smeared the red off until it was gone. He tightened his fist, the bones in his hand cracking from the pressure, then continued his march through the rain to his office.
Deeper within Everett Naval Station, sparks flew from the tips of welders working on dozens of trucks and tanks. Luis passed his men and headed for a small building with a communication satellite attached to the top of it at the very back of the base. When he opened the door, the two other soldiers jumped to attention. “At ease, I need the room.”
“Yes, sir.”
The computer screens the base used looked like they were from the early nineties, but that was the way Luis had designed it. Once the soil crisis hit, most funds were immediately allocated to efforts that kept food production up. Any military bases that were not considered top priority were stripped of funds and resources. Luis tried to combat the problem by giving away gear that was deemed as “high value” but in reality could be substituted with older models. He sacrificed computers for the sake of welding tools, guns, ammo, and tanks. It was a decision he was comfortable with.
Luis logged out of the previous soldier’s account and entered his own information. This computer had a program, which utilized the satellite and could send encrypted data to any other satellite connection in the world. And there was one specific connection that he needed to reach in Wyoming.
***
Alex spent the day in his room, blaming the alcohol from the night before for his condition. But that wasn’t the case. He couldn’t stand looking at them. Not anymore. Not after what he’d done. He’d kept the door shut and the blinds pulled closed and spent the hours looking over the messages that Meeko had sent him. His eyes had glazed over from looking at all of the lines of words. Words of trust. Words of hope. Words of friendship and kindness and-
He slammed the laptop shut and was about to shove it back under his mattress when he remembered he needed to conserve the battery. When he opened it back up, his thumb was on the power button when an email came through. It had no sender listed. When he clicked on it, the screen went black and white and the words that appeared told him to immediately head to the meeting spot. It was from Sydney, and it said that Jake wouldn’t be there.
Alex tucked the laptop hastily under the mattress, grabbed his sack, and rushed out the door. He had to slow his pace to a brisk walk after he realized he was running. He impatiently twitched his fingers back and forth during the checkout and once he was in the open field, he broke out into a sprint.
The message wasn’t meant to be seen by anyone except Alex. Sydney must have sent it encrypted because he was being watched. Maybe he had something that they could use? Maybe he was able to get something on the Coalition. Or it could all be a ruse. But Alex wouldn’t find out unless he went, and there would be plenty of time to contemplate his decisions later.
Despite Alex’s vigorous attempts to continue the sprint the entire way, he had to settle for a quick walk, with intermittent spurts of running. But after three hours of travel, he saw the Humvee parked between two hills and he found enough energy to sprint the rest of the way.
Alex almost collapsed from exhaustion when he made it. Jake wasn’t with Sydney, but he still had a sentry escort. The hopeful expectation of what would happen during their meet slowly began to fade.
“What took you so long?” Sydney asked, stepping away from the sentry and the Humvee. “I almost couldn’t keep him waiting here for much longer.”
“Where’s Jake? What’s going on?”
“Listen, I don’t have much time. How close are you to finding their lab?”
“I don’t know.”
“If you can get me the soil data, I will be able to get it to my father.”
“Who’s your father?”
“Jared Starnes. He’s the liaison to the President for the Soil Coalition, and there isn’t anyone that wants to bring the Coalition down more than my father.”
“Why are you doing this now? Why wait so long? What’s happened?”
“The Coalition and the President are at war. They’ve already started reallocating what resources they have in preparation to choke each other out. Gordon has kept me from my father because I know about the soil, and he doesn’t want me telling him about it. Whoever has that data will control the fate of the country. That’s what Gordon’s trying to do.”
“Christ.”
“Jake is away on some trip, and I’ve been able to convince the brutes watching me that it was his idea for me to come out here. Luckily, he hasn’t been picking up his phone, but I don’t know how much longer that’s going to last. If you can give me the data before he gets back, then I can get it to my father.”
“If you can get your father to send a unit of Special Forces to my community to ensure their protection, then I’ll get you your data. But not until I know they’re safe.”
“I’ll try, but we may not have that kind of time.”
“Will you be able to send me another message like you did? Without them seeing it?”
“Yes.”
“Then message me when you as soon as you have confirmation and proof from your father.”
Alex didn’t want to waste any more time talking. He turned to leave, and before he was out of earshot, he heard Sydney yell for him. He stopped and waited for the tiny scientist to catch up, and once he did, it took him another minute to catch his breath.
“Look I uh…I just wanted to say. Thank you. For before. At the seed silo. You saved my life.”
And just as clumsily as Sydney arrived, he left. All Alex could think about now was that he might be able to save both communities. He just had to hurry.
Chapter 10
Emma pounded away at the keyboard, entering the data from Todd’s work, referencing them against the blood samples that she pulled from him the day before. The results really were remarkable, and from everything she’d seen so far, the blood was still stable and healthy.
“Em!” Nelson said. “You need to come and look at this!”
Todd and Ray were quick to join Emma in her rush over to Nelson’s computer. The four of them gathered around the small screen, the glow illuminating their curious faces.
“What is it?” Emma asked.
“It’s from your brother.”
All four pairs of eyes scanned the message, then, all together, their jaws dropped immediately. Ray was the first to speak. “Well, what the hell are we gonna do?”
“He wouldn’t have sent this if it wasn’t urgent,” Emma replied.
Todd paced around in a circle, rubbing his chin. Emma walked over to him. She cupped his face in her hands. Her voice was soft as she spoke. “We can do this. It’s time.” She felt his hands fall on top of hers, then he brought them to his lips and she felt the warmth of his lips on her skin.
“We still don’t have someone who can deliver the messages,” Ray cut in.
“What about Alex?” Emma asked. “I know he could do it.”
Ray rolled his eyes. “Emma, I’ll admit that the guy showed balls against the sentries. But this isn’t some duck he’ll be hunting out there. And even if we can trust him, there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to find the drop off locations. He doesn’t know this area as well as Billy did.”
“The markers should still be there,” Emma said. “It wouldn’t be hard to map it out for him, even if it’s his first time.”
“And what happens if he gets caught by a sentry unit on patrol?” Ray asked, perking up in his seat. “He’ll most likely be searched, and what is he gonna say when the sentries stumble across the messages?”
“If he does get stopped, it’s the same alibi as Billy. He’s a hunter stretching north in search of game. There aren’t any restrictions on hunters and their mobility so long as they don’t violate any of the regulations,” Emma said. “And the messages would look like nothing more than garbled nonsense.”
“If we bring him on, then he needs to come all the way,” Todd said. “Is everyone okay with that?”
Emma and Nelson nodded quickly, and eventually Ray gave a nod with an added eye roll. “All right then,” Todd said. “I’ll bring him in.”
***
When Alex made it back, it was already past curfew. He trudged up to the house where Ben was still awake, working on one of his crossword puzzles with Brent. Alex froze awkwardly at the door when he saw the two of them.
“Bring anything back?” Brent asked.
“What? Oh, um, no. Not today,” Alex answered, quickly heading to his room.
“Oh, Alex,” Ben said, “I wanted to check your bandages and show Brent here a few things. I’ve been teaching him a little about medicine. Do you mind?”
“I don’t know if now’s the best tim-”
“It won’t take long. I promise.”
Alex sat on the edge of his bed and lifted his shirt so Brent could get a good look at the healing lashes on his back. Ben handed Brent some fresh gauze and instructed him to remove the old ones. “You see how the abrasions here are more prominent?” Ben asked.
“Yeah,” Brent answered, his voice slightly faint from the sight of the scar tissue still healing on Alex’s back.
“That’s where you’ll want to focus the majority of your bandages. Being a good doctor these days is just as much about the proper distribution of your resources, as it is in your diagnosis,” Ben said.
Alex could feel the slow peel of the old bandages off his back. He winced. The flesh on his back was still sensitive. Once the rest of the bandages were removed, Ben helped Brent apply some of the medical cream that had finally arrived. Alex just sat and listened to the old man talk to Brent, his voice calm and steady, never shying away from a question or answering it with an even harder one.
It didn’t take long for the cream on Alex’s back to diminish the pain that still remained from his wounds. A cool, numb, icy sensation overwhelmed him. It felt as though everything that had hurt him over the past few years was slowly eroding away.
“What’s that?” Brent asked. “It doesn’t look like the rest of the lashings.”
Alex had only pulled his shirt up to below his neckline. His shoulders were still mainly covered, but a small portion of disfigured flesh on his right shoulder had revealed itself. Alex quickly lowered his shirt and jumped off the edge of the bed. “Nothing. Just an old injury.”
Ben patted Brent on the shoulder and slowly got up. “Fine work, boy.” Ben handed Brent the rest of the cream. “Now, I want you to take this and start looking up some of the properties the medicine is comprised of with the book I gave you.”
“Right. A breakdown and explanation of each like last time?” Brent asked.
“Perfect.”
“Thanks for letting me get some practice on you, Alex.”
Alex adjusted the back of his shirt. The cream on his back caused the shirt to stick to his skin. Ben turned him around and helped adjust it.
“You know. You should really let me take a look at your shoulder,” Ben said. “It’s a burn scar, right?”
“It’s fine.”
Before Ben could pry further, they were interrupted by a knock at the back door. Ben went to answer and when Alex stepped into the living room Todd was there, clutching a small bag in his left hand.
“Ben, I was hoping I could speak with Alex for a moment?” Todd asked.
Ben simply nodded and left the two of them alone. Alex walked over to the oil lamp on the only table the living room offered. Alex eyed the bag as Todd set it down and the two men took a seat.
“How’s the back?” Todd asked.
“Ben got a new shipment of medicine in the other day, so the cuts that are still bad should be healed up any day now.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“How’s Emma? She still nursing that hangover?”
The creases at the corners of Todd’s eyes crinkled and the whites of his teeth penetrated the thick brown beard around his mouth as he smiled. “She’s doing fine. It was a rough morning for her the next day. She cut her fingers a few times on the sewing machine.” Todd’s eyes focused on the bag he brought with him. He drummed his fingers then rubbed his beard. Finally, he pushed the bag to Alex.
“What is this?” Alex asked.
“It’s an opportunity.”
“An opportunity for what?”
“Do you remember how we got here, Alex? Do you remember what it was like before two men had to sit at a rickety table of plywood in the glow of a lamp light after a day of slave labor?” Todd tapped the bag. His finger thumped hard against the weak table. The thin man in front of him looked as though he could break the poorly crafted piece of furniture in half. “This is our way out,” Todd said.
This was it.
“What do you need me to do?” Alex asked.
“Come with me.”
***
Alex did his best to remember the path to the lab from his house, but in the pitch black it was difficult to see, and with no real landmarks other than the same sprawling fields, he knew it was going to be difficult to find his way back.
When Alex descended into the lab, the first thing his eyes fell on was the computer that Nelson sat at. Emma came and gave him a hug, Nelson shook his hand, but Ray remained in the back with his only form of greeting being a curt nod.
“So this is where we did it,” Todd said, gesturing around him.
“Alex, what we’ve done will change the world. And with your help, we can let everyone know,” Emma said.
“How many people in the community know about this?” Alex asked.
“Outside of us, it’s only Ben, but he doesn’t come here to work. We just wanted an alternate in case something happened to one of us,” Todd answered.
“How did you get all of this stuff here with the Coalition watching you?”
“It was already here,” Nelson said.
“Four years ago, I was part of the research team that was put together by the government to start work on the original GMO-24 project, which back then was called something else. After a few months of work, what we came up with wasn’t completely stable. We scrapped the work and turned in a report that said we needed more time. What I didn’t know was that the major GMO companies that were backing this project had invested quite a bit of money and were looking for something other than ‘more time.’ When I found out they were pushing forward with trials, I moved out here with Emma,” Todd said.
“We thought it was a place we could start over. We cashed in all our investments and used it to purc
hase what you see here,” Emma said.
“I continued my own research here even after the end of the first project, and when GMO-24 was released and started causing all of the side effects, I contacted Emma’s brother to see what was happening,” Todd said.
“My brother is a Commander in the Navy, and he worked with one of his superiors in helping us get access to some of the supplies we needed to continue our work, which was before the Coalition had any real reach out here. He was able to get the computers needed to process the data we were compiling,” Emma said, gesturing to the computer Alex had eyeballed earlier.
“By the time the Coalition did make it out here we were too entrenched in our work, and we didn’t want to cause any suspicion by moving. So we stayed,” Todd said.
“Nelson and Ray were colleagues of ours, and we knew we would need their help in fixing this. Ray has his doctorate in Statistics and has been a huge help in narrowing down successful soil solutions. Nelson handled all of the analytics, programming, and security,” Emma said.
“Security?” Alex asked.
“When the Soil Coalition came into being, they started tracking data on everyone,” Nelson said. “The moment they started setting up communities, we knew they’d investigate us, so I wiped our records clean. Making sure they had no way of knowing who we were when they came knocking.”
“He even changed my last name back to my maiden name, so the Coalition didn’t know we were married,” Emma said.
“There are twenty other communities in our general area of Wyoming,” Todd said. “I have contacts in each of them. The bag I gave you is the final message for our plan to be set into motion. We have a solution, and now we need to act on it.”
“My brother has a unit of men that will roll through here in two days once we give him word our people are good to go,” Emma said.
“We’re taking it back, Alex,” Todd said.