Ill-Fated (Ill-Fated Series Book 1)

by S. C. McMurray

  She was awoken by the lights turning on. She sprang to a seated position. She rubbed her eyes as a blurry figure standing in the doorway came into focus. It was Rosina and she was brandishing the double-barreled shotgun again, this time pointing it right at Evelyn.

  “What-What’s going on?” Evelyn asked.

  Rosina, a fierce look in her eye, reached over and turned on the television projector next to the door. A 3D image emerged and Evelyn saw her face on the screen with the words Wanted and Dangerous, followed by footage from the wreckage of the transport ship, a blurry photo of Evelyn and Adam at the monorail exchange, and finally a photo of Adam standing next to a man she recognized immediately.

  Evelyn’s heart sank. She looked past Rosina to Adam who had just emmerged from his room.

  You’re a senator’s son. You’re the senator’s son.

  Rosina lifted the gun and this time she looked like she just might use it.

  “Alright young lady.” She said as she stared down the barrels. “I want answers.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Is it true what they’re saying, that you are a terrorist and are holding that young man hostage?”

  “It’s not like they’re saying. I’m not a terrorist.” She pleaded.

  “Are you responsible for that wreckage?”

  “I had no choice, you have to believe me.”

  She lowered the gun a bit as if she was contemplating something. “Are you holding him hostage?”

  “Yes, but…”

  She felt the tears brimming to the surface of her eyes.

  “They killed my mother and they have my father and my best friend. They have everyone I care about. I just want to free them, and I need his help.”

  Rosina looked over her shoulder at Adam, “Is she holding you against your will?”

  Adam looked past Rosina to Evelyn. She saw a flash of guilt in his eyes.

  “Well, Adam, answer my question! Is she holding you against your will?”

  Adam breathed deeply. “No. I have agreed to help her find her family.”

  Rosina looked skeptical. “And why would a soldier of the United People’s Army do something like that?”

  Adam’s eyes fell on Evelyn as if he wanted her to hear his response as much as he wanted Rosina to hear it.

  “I’m helping her because she saved my life. She could have let me die in that crash but she chose to save me.”

  “Is she a terrorist?”

  Adam took another deep breath and said genuinely, “I don’t think so.”

  “Good enough for me.” Rosina lowered the gun. “Let’s have some breakfast.”

  As they ate, Adam filled Rosina in on what had occurred. He said that he was given orders to bring Evelyn in for questioning. He didn’t ask questions because he never asked questions. He admitted that he used Evelyn’s mother as a trap to catch Evelyn and that he feels responsible for her death. Evelyn listened but mostly gazed out the window as burnt orange sun rose over rolling hills of golden wheat. For a moment, she remembered how beautiful the world can be.

  After Rosina had taken everything in, she leaned back in contemplation. After a moment she said, “I will help you save your friends.”

  She stood up and walked over to the hutch where she kept her fine china, she opened one of the doors and retrieved a small wooden chest. She walked back to the table and laid the chest down. She became very solemn.

  “These are some of my son’s things. He, like you Adam, loved his country and fought bravely for his country. He died serving in South America.”

  Evelyn thought about the way Rosina had looked at Adam when he’d returned from the shower wearing her son’s clothes. For a moment she must have seen her son standing there and not Adam.

  Rosina opened the chest and carefully pulled out an old envelope. “They said he was killed in action and I believed that for many years.”

  “But you don’t believe that now?” Adam asked.

  She handed Adam the envelope. “This was personally delivered to me by my son’s best friend a few years back.”

  Adam opened it and read it aloud,

  Mom and Dad,

  It is Tuesday December 4th 2048. I’m writing to you because it isn’t safe to tell you what I’m about to tell you on digital. I am in South America. It will not matter for me to tell you exactly where because by the time you receive this letter I will no longer be there. Just know that we have been in many places.

  Mother, please do not be disappointed but I will understand if you are. I have felt the guilt you warned me about, the inescapable ramifications of my actions. My unit, myself, we have done horrible things, things that will haunt me the rest of my life. I know that in the news you are watching, they are calling our involvement in South America a peace keeping mission, please believe me when I say that it isn’t. We are searching for something and we have been ordered to ‘remove‘ any obstacle that is in our way. What we are searching for, only our commanding officers know and they have been tight lipped under punishment of death. The whispers are that is a specific mineral but I cannot be for certain. I can tell you that we are scouring the jungles, villages and countryside in search of it and anyone who witnesses what we are doing is being killed. Though, I write this with tears running down my cheeks, you must know that I have done my part in the cover up. I have killed innocent life and I vow to do so no more. You know what this means and you know what they will do to me. But I do not fear them, not anymore. I hope that my sacrifice will inspire others, though I know that it can never remove the burden I feel for what I have done.

  I’m including a holodisc with this letter. There must be a journalist out there brave enough to publish the images included on it. The American people need to know the truth. With all that’s changed since you were young, I hope the people haven’t lost their conscience.

  I love you both.

  Edward.

  As Adam finished, tears filled Rosina’s eyes and streaked down her cheeks. Evelyn couldn’t help but go to her side. As Evelyn wrapped a comforting arm around Rosina’s shoulders, Adam reread the letter to himself silently.

  “Have you seen the holodisc?” he asked.

  Rosina shook her head. “No.”

  “Has anyone seen it?”

  “I contacted all the journalists in the area, no one dared even return my messages.” Rosina batted her eyes with her apron. “You know what happens when people begin to raise questions. They vanish.”

  Adam nodded slowly. Rosina pulled out another envelope, this one had been closed by the Official seal of the UPA. Adam seemed to recognize it immediately. She handed it to him and he reluctantly took it. Adam opened it carefully and pulled out a handwritten letter. He read it aloud.

  January 7, 2049

  Mr. and Mrs. Masterson,

  With grave strokes, I write to inform you of the loss of your son, Private First Class Edward Masterson Jr. in peace keeping operations in South America. As Private Masterson’s commanding officer, I can assure you that Edward’s sacrifice was not in vain. His name will be remembered in the annals of all who have given their lives for this fine nation. He performed admirably and has honored to the fullest extent your family’s legacy of service. I know that my words cannot assuage the feeling of loss you must be experiencing but I consider it my highest honor to have known and served with such a brave individual.

  Sincerely,

  Octavian Thatcher

  Colonel United People’s Armed Forces

  “Octavian Thatcher was elected First General the next year.” Rosina said, almost as a side note.

  Adam looked pale and speechless. He carefully put the letter back into the envelope and handed it back to Rosina. “I’m sorry for your loss.” He offered just above a whisper.

  Rosina pinched the envelope tightly between her fingertips. “My husband died thinking his son was a hero.” She slipped the envelope back into the wooden chest. “He didn’t know how much of a hero Jr. really was.”
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br />   After a moment, Rosina reached back into the wooden chest. “Jr. would want you to have this.” She pulled out a pair of car keys and slid them across the table to Adam. “In the barn under an old brown tarp you will find a Chevy. It belonged to Jr.”

  “Are you sure?” Adam asked.

  Rosina nodded. “Yes. You won’t make it to that prison on foot.”

  The task before them was daunting if not impossible but Evelyn felt the boost of hope that only good news can bring. Evelyn hugged Rosina tightly, she couldn’t help herself. “Thank you so much!”

  “You are welcome, Eve.” As they were hugging, Rosina pulled Evelyn in close as she slipped something into the palm of her hand. “Get this to the people who will know what to do with it.” She glanced at Adam. “Be careful, there are wolves in sheep’s clothing.” Rosina ended their embrace then stood up. “Follow me. I’ll show you the car.”

  As Adam followed Rosina to the barn, Evelyn glanced down at the object in her palm. It was the holodisk. She squeezed it tightly in her hand. She didn’t know where to start, but she knew she would get it to the right person. Rosina’s son deserved that.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Bap!

  Another back hand across the face. Rillian tasted blood and felt his lips swelling up. He’d taken a few blows already but that was the first to the head. He doubted the guard would hit him in there anymore. He wouldn’t do them any good if he was concussed. They were trying to soften him up for his interrogation, like tenderizing a large piece of steak before throwing it on the grill. They weren’t trying to kill him.

  If Rillian was the steak than the typical bland room with a two way mirror and single bulb for light was the grill and the metal chair he was strapped to was the grid. The large muscular guard hitting him, he was the tenderizer.

  Rillian spit out a wad of blood and saliva onto the ground at the guard’s feet. The guard shook his head then reared back and sucker punched Rillian in the gut. Rillian felt his stomach heave as oxygen was forced out of his lungs. For a moment he felt like he was dying, but slowly his breath returned to him.

  He turned his head toward the two-way mirror. “Are you gonna’ ask me any questions?” Rillian said, disdainfully. “Or just keep hitting me?”

  Rillian’s answer came in the form of another blow to his gut, more forceful than the last. A few minutes later, the door opened and a swarthy man with dark eyes and slicked back hair stepped inside. He was in standard issue military grays. Rillian knew immediately he was an officer and he didn’t need the insignia on the man’s left shoulder to tell him that. The man carried himself like an officer, not like a grunt.

  “So what do I call you?” Rillian asked.

  The officer crossed his arms behind his back. “I was wondering the same thing about you.” He began to pace in front of Rillian like he was a hungry lion. “You have no chip, our facial recognition software draws a blank and your DNA isn’t in our system. You’re effectively a man without an identity and that is not easily accomplished these days. So what do I call you?”

  “John Doe.”

  “Fair enough, John.”

  “What do I call you?” Rillian leaned up a bit so that he could see his insignia. “Commander?”

  “Farez. My name is Commander Alam Farez and I am the warden of this establishment.”

  “So, I am in a prison?”

  Farez leaned close and chuckled deviously. “This is much worse.” He leaned back quickly. “But if you tell me what I desire to know, it doesn’t have to be that way.”

  “What do you want to know?” Rillian asked.

  “I want to know about the girl. I want to know everything you know about her.”

  “What happened to the Captain who arrested us? Why isn’t he interrogating me?”

  “This is my prison. I handle the business here.” Farez snapped.

  By the tone in Farez’s voice, Rillian could tell that the Captain wasn’t his favorite person in the world.

  “Where is she?” Rillian asked.

  “I ask the questions here, John.”

  Rillian bit down on his enthusiasm. He didn’t want to give the commander anything he could use against him.

  Though the commander’s evasiveness about the previous question gave him hope, Rillian said as nonchalantly as possible, “She’s not here is she?”

  Farez’s tone was more serious. “I told you I ask the questions.”

  “Did they take her somewhere else, Commander?” Rillian followed. “Do they not trust you?”

  BAP! A sharp pain screamed across Rillian’s face and more blood filled his mouth. Rillian had struck a nerve and to see Farez lose his cool like that was almost worth the backhand across the mouth. Almost.

  Farez took a step back, adjusted the sleeves on his uniform and resumed his officer’s posture. He was too proud to be the enforcer. That was below him. He reset the conversation as if their little altercation had never happened.

  “Now, John, you were traveling with the girl, one Evelyn Smoak. Did she ever tell you anything about herself, anything that you found curious or odd?”

  “Yes. She told me she was afraid of the dark.”

  Farez didn’t find that amusing, he scowled. “Did you ever notice anything strange?”

  “She picks her nose when she thinks no one is looking.”

  “Boy, I would advise that you take my questions a bit more seriously.”

  Rillian smirked. “You asked me if I noticed anything strange.”

  Farez shook his head slightly. “Why were you traveling with her?”

  “She was traveling with me.”

  “Where were you going?”

  “Parts unknown. The ol’ lady and me just wanted to get away.”

  Farez stared at Rillian hard for a moment than asked, “Why were you in Detroit?”

  “Detroit is so lovely this time of year.”

  “Enough of this.” Farez sighed, “I warned you.”

  He turned away from Rillian and nodded at someone on the other side of the two-way mirror. “This will not be pleasant.”

  Farez left the room and a moment later, the guard from earlier came through the door along with a woman in a white lab coat. The woman in the white lab coat was carrying a small black case. She sat it on the table and opened it. Inside was a syringe and two vials of a clear liquid.

  The guard chuckled. “You are going to enjoy this.”

  Rillian looked at the syringe gravely. “A truth serum?”

  The guard chuckled again. “You wish.”

  The woman placed one of the vials in the syringe then approached Rillian. Without saying a word, she injected the liquid into the side of his arm just below the shoulder. After the initial stinging of the shot, Rillian felt a burning sensation starting from the entry point then radiating in all directions across his body. He felt his eyelids grow heavy. He fought to keep himself awake but the serum was too strong and he succumbed to it.

  When Rillian awoke, he found himself under the covers. He felt different, lighter. The room that he was in was lit by a light coming from under the door and the moonlight from outside. His eyes moved across the dark and settled on a Model of the Mars 212 Space Shuttle sitting on his dresser and he realized where he was. He was in his bed in his old bedroom. The texture of the blanket, the smell of fabric softener, it was all real. He tried to move, he couldn’t. It was his eyes, his perception, but not his body. He heard voices and footsteps coming up the hallway. His door opened and the silhouettes of his father and mother appeared in the doorway. They looked just as he remembered them: His father, tall, lean, five o’clock shadow, his mother, olive skinned with dark hair. If this was a dream, he didn’t want it to end. As if he could feel his soul crying out for them, every pent up feeling came rushing to the surface. He wanted desperately to leap from his bed and wrap his tiny arms around them, squeeze them as tight as he could and never let go. But try as he may, his tiny body wouldn’t move. He was stuck in his bed.

>   His father and mother looked lovingly at him and for a moment, he felt whole again. Then his father spoke.

  “Look at our little boy.” He said in a tone Rillian didn’t recognize. “So weak, so pathetic.”

  “Do you think he’ll miss us?”

  His father nodded. “Yes. But I know one thing for sure. We won’t miss him.”

  “I agree. We will be better off without him.”

  Each word felt like a dagger to his heart and they only continued. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t cry. He could only listen.

  “He is my only regret.”

  “Don’t worry. He’s your brother’s problem now.”

  “How long do you think he’ll last?

  “Rillian?”

  “No. Your brother?”

  “With that little brat? Not long.” He smirked. “I suspect that he would rather be dead then have to take care of such a waste of oxygen.”

  “Waste is the right word.”

  “Indeed.”

  “Do you want to say goodbye before we leave?”

  His mother looked at him, the way she used to then said solemnly, “Yes. I do love him after all.” She paused then laughed. “I can’t even say that with a straight face.”

  They both laughed and Rillian hurt.

  Their laughter died down and Rilian watched. “Come on,” his father said as he wrapped his arm around Rillian’s mother’s waist and turned her around, “let’s go before the boy wakes up and finds out how we really feel about him.”

  Rillian opened his eyes. He was in the interrogation room, tears streaking down his cheeks. His entire body was trembling. He was hurting in a way that he had never hurt before. He felt broken. He felt alone.

  “John.”

  Rillian lifted his head just long enough to see Farez sitting in a folding chair across from him.

  Farez looked at him sympathetically. “It hurts doesn’t it?”

  Rillian couldn’t speak. Farez patted him gently on the knee as if he was a friend trying to reassure him. “Worse is the pain of the heart and mind than any of the body. The worst kind of pain.” He paused. “It doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to experience that again.” He spoke slowly, deliberately. “Just tell me what I need to know. Tell me about the girl.”