by M. V. Kallai
“Colonel Cline, you will meet the building crew this afternoon in the open field. Give them these plans,” the general said, handing him a large envelope. “Don’t answer any questions about the facility’s use. If they press you on it, say it’s for storing equipment for the Camden Riles flight project. That way, if it makes it to the press, it will be the publicity we want.”
With that, the general stood and saluted the three men who saluted back and took their cue to leave.
By 12:00, Maeve had changed into military garb and put her hair under a black wig. She was hiding out in the science atrium trying to figure out a way into the weaponry unit behind the well-secured doors. She had been watching Bearden for an hour. There had been nothing interesting or suspicious about him, apart from that he seemed to be an outcast by his co-workers. Just then, he checked his phone and then disappeared behind the doors leading to the other side of the atrium, to the weaponry unit. Maeve walked the perimeter of the atrium so she could find a better hiding place without drawing attention to herself while she worked out a way to access the weaponry unit. She needed a plan, or the right opportunity. She waited until another soldier accessed the weaponry unit. Just before the door closed behind him, she grabbed the handle and waited, keeping the door cracked. Pretending to stick her own card in the access panel, she smiled and nodded at a group of scientists walking by, then walked through the door.
In the technology development wing of the weaponry unit, Luke the programmer sat down for lunch with his intelligence chip co-creator, Charisa. They, along with the entire tech team had been working non-stop to enhance the response signals in the chips for the Phase Two biomachines. Luke, who had been one of the handlers when the biomachines murdered the training soldier last month, felt strongly that the remainder of the Phase One units should not be activated. He shared his concerns with Major Magner, but like General Pike, his war ambition clouded his rational judgment. So, he of course, was overruled. Charisa shared Luke’s point of view and after finding no flaws in the programming, appealed to Colonel Talper and Colonel Cline to put a stop to Phase One. It was too dangerous for her team of handlers and programmers to try and train the beasts, not to mention what could happen if the biomachines became unresponsive for extended lengths of time. The colonels seemed sympathetic to her concerns and convinced General Pike to initiate the new security measures, but the threat of war was too close at hand to stop the program. Charisa also wrote several requests to meet with Colonel Ganesh. He seemed to be the only high ranking officer in the unit who was not war hungry. He was never in the weaponry unit these days and that gave her hope that he could be swayed to fight the general on his decision to push ahead with these intelligent weapons. But he was, so far, unresponsive.
As the two ate at their desks, they discussed possible signal boosters for the Phase One controls when they saw through their window, Major Mace Magner approaching their office with Sergeant Bearden Leitner walking behind him. Luke looked at Charisa with a loathsome expression.
“Great, now I’m sure to get indigestion,” Charisa said to Luke, returning his look.
“I hope you two techies have some good news for me. Especially if you have time to take a leisurely lunch break,” Mace said as he walked in the door without knocking. Bearden stayed outside and tried to look busy. He felt uncomfortable around Luke ever since they met in General Pike’s office after that soldier was killed. Their technology developments were the combined reason for that man’s death and that was a common ground Bearden did not want for a relationship.
“Fortunately, Major,” Charisa said. “We ‘techies’ are capable of multi-tasking and it just so happens that we are in the process of making your life easier.” Mace folded his arms and smiled nastily at her. This type of look from him always gave her the shivers and made her feel dirty. She avoided eye contact with him without looking away. Luke, sensing her discomfort spoke next.
“Major, if we could delay training of the Phase One activated units for at least a week, we might be able to attach signal amplifiers to the handler control pads. It could lessen the risk of, well, you know.”
“Not possible,” Mace said, “In three days, we should have all of Phase One activated and restrained. Training will happen as scheduled.”
“So, do we have the go ahead if we can do it in three days?” Charisa asked.
“No, Sugar, I need all available manpower working on the new structure going up to house the Phase Two units. Unless you’d like to have drinks with me later and try and persuade me.” Mace said and licked his lips at her.
“I’d rather take my chances with the biomachines, sir,” she replied.
“We’ll see,” Mace said, then turned to Luke. “I think your break time is over. You two get back to work.” He walked out and slammed their door.
Charisa threw the rest of her lunch in the wastebasket.
“Ughh! I’ve lost my appetite,” she said.
“You should report him, ya know,” Luke said, shoving large bites of food in his mouth as fast as he could.
“What’s the point? As long as I don’t ever run into him alone in a dark corner, it’s not worth it. C’mon, we’ve got a lot to do. I’m not giving up on the Phase One control amplifiers. We just have to do it discreetly,” Charisa said.
The two walked down the ramp to the training arena to see two biomachines out of restraints at the same time, surrounded by twenty nervous looking soldiers and two very alert handlers.
“What’s going on here?” Charisa yelled down to them and took off at a sprint. Luke froze in his spot, not wanting to be anywhere near the biomachines. At the end of the ramp, a soldier grabbed Charisa and kept her from entering the training arena.
“Don’t go any further, ma’am,” the soldier said, putting his hand over her mouth.
Her eyes went wide with fear as she saw the biomachines had exact synchronized movement. The handlers were frantically pushing buttons, but it was useless. The biomachines started shooting. The soldier shielded Charisa with his body and started running with her up the ramp. When they got to where Luke was still standing, he let go of her mouth and grabbed Luke by the collar, forcing him to run too. Charisa screamed, without meaning to, all the way back to their office. On the training floor, the surrounding soldiers were armed this time with smaller, chipless, biomer guns. In a coordinated effort, they managed to disable the arm gun on one of the biomachines, but not before they had managed to take out eleven of the soldiers and wound at least five more. The wounded biomachine seemed to shut itself down, causing the other to once again respond to its handler, who was standing behind a bulletproof shield. Another team of soldiers who had been standing by, charged in to separate and restrain the biomachines and assist their fallen and injured comrades. Colonels Talper and Cline, along with Mace appeared after the biomachines were properly restrained. Bearden had planted himself against a wall. He was shocked, and wondered how the hell to get himself out of this pile of shit he’d fallen into. Mace walked up to the disabled weapon and watched as the gun began to regenerate. It was a slow process, but seeing the biomer beginning to repair itself made the major smile even in the midst of the disaster all around him. Talper was on the phone with the unit hospital giving orders to assemble all available doctors for the injured soldiers.
In the tech office, Luke had a bag of ice on Charisa’s head and was trying to calm her down. She was crying on the shoulder of the soldier who had just saved her life. Between sobs, Luke heard a dripping sound and looked down at the floor and saw a pool of blood streaming from the soldiers leg.
“You’re shot!” he said.
“It’s nothing,” the soldier replied. Charisa sat up and saw the blood. Luke ran out to get some help.
“Oh, my God!” Charisa said and felt herself gag at the sight. She grabbed the wastebasket that currently held her half eaten lunch from earlier, and spit up a little.
“Not good with blood, huh?” the soldier asked.
“I wo
rk with computers. Computers don’t bleed,” she said and grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth.
The soldier smiled at her then started to look faint. Charisa stood up and helped the soldier to her chair.
“Put your head between your knees. You don’t look okay.” Then she yelled, “Luke! Hurry up! He doesn’t look so good.” She patted his head and tried hard not to think about the blood she was standing in.
A minute later, Luke returned with a nurse dressed in military garb, who was on her way to help out the other injured soldiers. She went to work right away on the soldier, cutting his pant leg away to reveal a gaping hole in his upper thigh. Luke saw Charisa go green in the face and pulled her out of the room.
“Wait out here,” he said and let go of her. She slid down the wall to a seated position and Luke went back in the office to help if he could.
“It’s not bad,” the nurse said after five minutes of stitching and bandaging. “The bullet went right through and no major arteries were hit. He’ll just be limping for a while. You should get him to the hospital so he can recover his blood loss.”
“I didn’t know any nurses had clearance down here.” The soldier said, examining his tidy bandage.”
“There are only a few of us,” she answered curtly.
“That’s interesting,” the soldier replied, now studying her face.
“Will you be alright taking it from here?” she asked Luke, turning her face away from her patient.
“Yeah, I think so. Thanks for coming with me,” Luke said. “You should go help the rest.”
She nodded and hurried out, disappearing in the commotion all around them.
“Give this girl some juice before she faints,” the nurse called back to Luke after seeing Charisa sitting against the wall, pale as a ghost.
Luke did as the nurse said, and then hastily mopped up some of the blood in the office before he let Charisa back in.
“We’ve got to get you up to the hospital,” he said to the soldier who looked like he was feeling a little better.
“I think you should be more worried about your friend out there,” he replied and nodded toward Charisa.
“She’ll be alright,” Luke said. “She’s tougher than she looks.”
Charisa, who was listening to the two, stood up slowly and walked back in the office.
“He’s right,” she said leaning against the wall for support. “I’ll be okay. But you, you got shot…saving my life…and I don’t even know your name.”
“It’s Andreas,” he said, “And believe me, your life is way more important than mine…both of your lives.”
Luke put the blood soaked mop away and helped Andreas out of the chair.
“Come on, let’s get you to the hospital now,” Luke said and put the soldier’s arm around his shoulders. Charisa got on the other side and did the same. She looked up into his face, which she found extremely handsome, and he smiled warmly at her.
“You can fix this, can’t you?” Andreas asked.
Charisa looked down, feeling ashamed. She took part of the blame for the deaths and injuries happening around her.
“We are doing everything we can,” Luke answered for her.
“It should be me with the hole in my leg,” Charisa said.
Andreas tightened his embrace around her shoulders.
“Don’t think like that. They need you more than they need me. Just promise me you will stay out of the training area.”
“She promises,” Luke said.
When they got to the medical floor and turned Andreas over to the hospital team, Charisa grabbed Andreas’s hand.
“Thank you,” she said.
“For you, anytime,” he said and kissed her hand.
“Look at that, he’s smitten,” Luke said and rolled his eyes as they walked away. Charisa was still looking back at her hero being taken inside the hospital. “Looks like he’s not the only one either.”
“Shut up,” Charisa said and punched Luke in the arm. “Let’s get back down there before Major ‘Pain in the Ass’ Magner realizes we are gone.”
“How are we gonna fix this mess?” Luke asked.
“Let’s just hope our amplifiers and upgrades are enough. I really don’t know what else we can do.”
“Unless we can somehow program them to self destruct,” Luke said.
“That sounds like a good idea, but if they are ignoring the programming, they will likely be unresponsive to that, too.”
“It’s worth a shot,” Luke said.
“Yes. It is. Why don’t you start a small team on that while I do the same with the Phase One amplifier? Pick only people you can trust. I think we should withhold what we are doing from the military team, don’t you?”
“Good call,” Luke said, “Major Magner would never allow it.”
After being pulled into General Pike’s office by Mace Magner, Luke understood where these biomachines ranked in the government’s list of priorities. For the rest of the day, Luke and Charisa worked on their projects behind locked office doors and curtained windows.
Chapter Forty-Two
First Strike
By 4:00, Maeve was again sitting in the ventilation system of the unit, this time over Camden’s small apartment. She was counting on Ganesh coming here to speak with him, but the place was empty. She knew that at 5:00 Ganesh would be back in his office to pass a message to Sergeant Leitner, but it was possible that Ganesh and Camden had already exchanged their information while going about their daily work. Maeve was tired from the commotion she’d inserted herself into earlier, in the weaponry unit, and of being cramped up in small spaces today. At 5:15 she was still staring at an empty room. She left the building and went to a nearby hotel where she had made her temporary residence. At least she had one note to analyze. She pulled the black wig off of her head, then blew up the photo she had taken that morning of the note that passed from Sergeant Leitner to Colonel Ganesh.
I think I’m onto something. Should find a weakness soon.
Decided to use the boy and have crossed his notes with Cam’s. Has been helpful.
His personality is uneven sometimes. Can he be trusted?
Find a weakness in what? Maeve thought. She looked up Camden Riles past research and searched until everything made sense. He worked with the material in the lab first. They must be looking for a way to disable the weapons they created with it. A smile spread across her face as she realized that Ganesh had gone rogue. He was a traitor, which meant they were on the same side. Then her smile retreated. She thought about Agent Quinn. If Ganesh is suspected, Quinn is probably on a kill mission. “Ganesh can handle himself,” she said aloud. But deep down she knew that wouldn’t be the case. Ganesh wasn’t a young man anymore. He had a desk job, for crying out loud, and was not in physical condition to take on a Special Unit spy in his prime.
She got up, pulled her hair back in a braid and headed down to the hotel bar for a drink and to plan her next move. Maeve had really hoped that Ganesh would have called for her help, but now she knew why he hadn’t. It would be difficult to trust anyone with anti-government secrets, especially someone from Special Unit. She would have to reveal herself first.
Maeve sipped on her second martini trying to avoid eye contact with the three other bar patrons, who were all men. Staying at the hotel on business, no doubt and they all looked like they were working up the confidence to come over to try and woo her. She considered finishing her drink in her room, when on the screens behind the bar, reporters were filming the aftermath of what looked like an explosion.
“Nooo,” she said, recognizing the burning city as Chama, a border town of Daxia. Her Tyrinian intelligence had not indicated an attack so soon. Something must have happened. She tapped her fingernails impatiently on the bar and was compelled to leave then and cross border to find out what was going on. However, it was more important to stay here for the time being. Her reaction to the news report must have made her look vulnerable because she felt heat coming off
of the almost drooling man that had come to sit next to her.
“Damn shame what’s going on down in Tyrine,” he said, “I wish the government would hurry up and just take them over. Shut ‘em up before they do anymore damage.”
Maeve slowly rolled her eyes at him, looking obviously annoyed. The man, who was wearing a wrinkled shirt with a stain on it, also looking like he hadn’t shaved in three days, smiled at her, revealing yellow teeth that had started to brown.
“The name’s Paul. Can I buy you a drink, beautiful?”
Maeve held a flat expression on her face. She was used to dealing with this sort of thing.
“Paul, is it? You don’t need my permission to buy whatever your heart desires with your money. If you put a drink in front of me, I may or may not drink it, but don’t think for a second that even a polite conversation with me is for sale,” she said and looked away.
“I’ll take my chances,” he said grinning and motioned to the bartender to bring Maeve a drink.
“So, what are you in town for?” he continued. It seemed the other men were watching to see how he fared. Maeve ignored him and when her drink arrived, she ignored it too, then stood and left without so much as a glance at the disgusting animal beside her. Once in her room, she showered and crawled into bed. Unable to fall asleep, she stared at the ceiling for hours thinking of Ganesh, Tyrine, and Naja. Finally, she made the decision to leave Ganesh for a couple of days and make the trip to Tyrine to warn the leaders of the resistance to back off until she learned more about the weapons in the unit. Any further attacks could provoke the Daxian military to release weapons that neither side were prepared to handle.
Back at the TRU Building, General Pike was still in his office conversing with the two heads of government and two other generals by videoconference. He was being pressured to employ the weapons he had been bragging about for over a year now. His program was eating up large portions of the government’s budget and he’d promised undefeatable biomachines that would all but eliminate Daxian soldier casualties. He was now past his delivery date and the only casualties so far were Daxian soldiers. The heads of government were irate. General Pike described the delay as a minor glitch in the compatibility between the biomer and the programming chip. The regent gave him a month to work it out or his weapons program would be shut down. Pike argued for the regent to give him at least three more months and help from other departments to beef up security on the border in the mean time. They compromised on two and extra security.