by M. V. Kallai
“I wish that were possible, but even if I could get back into Tripple Laboratories, there isn’t nearly enough to disable the machines, not by half,” Bearden replied.
“I can get in,” Maeve offered. “I’ll talk to Lee, tell him what we need.”
“There still won’t be enough time. Making the virus code is a slow process, the chemical reactions involved can’t just be sped up,” Bearden said.
“You’ve seen it done? You know how to make the virus code?” Maeve asked.
“Yes, well, mostly. I’ve never actually done it, but I have seen Lee make it. If I had his notes to follow and, of course, enough biomer to work with, then maybe I could do it.”
“I have his notes. Ganesh, can you procure some more biomer?” Maeve asked.
“That will be difficult, especially now,” Ganesh said. “Is this really necessary?”
“I know it seems like a wasted effort, but I’ve seen those biomachines in action. If they are ever freed from their cement prison, someone needs to be able to stop them. Especially if we can’t disable them now,” she said.
Just then, something clicked in Bearden’s head and he turned to Maeve.
“You’ve been inside Tripple Laboratories already. It was you…who took the vial of the virus code,” he accused.
“Very perceptive,” she replied. “Ganesh, I’m sorry I didn’t give you the vial, but the good news is, it works. Mace Magner and General Pike attacked Maile a few days ago. I was there, and watched two biomachines destroyed when shot with the virus code.”
“Does anyone else know about this?” Ganesh asked.
“Yes, I sent the footage of the attack to Director Fitzhugh, which is probably why the biomer unit is being shut down.”
“Maeve, I don’t know what to say.”
“How about, ‘good work’? Or don’t say anything now because our time is up, do you hear that?” Maeve asked.
Ganesh and Bearden got very still and listened. There were footsteps approaching.
“Ganesh, get Natty to stall them. Bearden, come with me, quick!” Maeve said.
Bearden looked at Ganesh with a panic stricken face.
“Go!” Ganesh said. “And good luck, Sergeant.”
“Thank you for everything, sir,” Bearden said and raced after Maeve through the garden and down a side road. She had a small black transport waiting there. He climbed in and they immediately took off at high speed. Bearden looked back with regret, wondering if he would ever see Ganesh, Lee, or Dana again.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
The Price
Camden met Rita and Terry a little after 10:00 to take Rhys on a walk through the building. Aldretti, of course, had to tag along. Rhys seemed happy about the outing and talked incessantly all the way to the entrance of the old interrogation wing, where he would be allowed a little more freedom. Camden walked beside him with a recording device, in case he said anything useful and questioned him about the space-bending prototype. Unfortunately, so far, his words had only been nonsensical babble. The general mood of the group was light. It seemed that everyone had needed this little change of scenery. Terry was quiet, as usual, but he was whistling to himself and twirling the sedative he carried between his fingers, like a baton. Rita had engaged Aldretti in a friendly conversation and for the first time since Camden had known him, Aldretti let down his guard a little and laughed with her. Camden had a good feeling about tonight. He believed so strongly that Rhys could guide him on how to build the next layer of the machine, that he’d brought several versions of the plans that he and his new colleagues had drawn up. He held them up, one at a time, for Rhys to look over and tell him which, if any, was the one with which to proceed. Terry began to wonder whether or not Camden was just as crazy as Rhys.
When they opened the doors to the old wing, Rhys froze and his expression changed to fear.
“Come on Rhys, it’s okay. We’re just continuing this nice outing,” Rita said to him when he didn’t follow her.
Aldretti found the lights for the corridor and when the place lit up Rhys’s expression changed again from fear to curiosity. He started down the hall turning in circles and pointing at Camden and Rita.
“I’ve had this dream before,” he said.
“This is a new place Rhys. It’s all new,” Terry said and led him by the arm.
They walked a little way through the wing, quieter than before, but all wondering the same thing; whether or not Rhys would throw a fit and ruin their evening out. After a few minutes, Camden returned to showing him prototype plans as they walked along. All of a sudden, Rhys grabbed one out of Camden’s hands, looked hard at it, then crumpled it up and started shouting.
“No…No…I’ve had this dream before...then, the monsters come!” He took off running with Rita, Terry, and Aldretti immediately running after. Camden bent down and picked up the crumpled drawing, shoved it in his pocket, and then ran after the group. Rhys was still shouting about monsters when the group caught up with him. He’d turned a corner and stopped cold. Rita gasped and grabbed Aldretti’s arm. Before Camden turned the corner, he heard a booming voice that did not belong to the group.
When Camden caught up, he found himself, and the group, standing almost face to face with a biomachine and General Pike charging toward them. Behind the biomachine, Luke stood startled, with the controls in his hands.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” Pike yelled.
“General Pike,” Camden said, “One might ask the same of you.”
“What is that thing?” Terry asked.
“Professor Riles, why are you out of your room? No one is supposed to be in this wing. You are all trespassing.”
“We were told this wing was empty, so clearly whatever it is that you are doing here is off the books, General,” Camden said. “Is that one of them? A biomachine?”
Camden was the only one of the group that even knew that the biomachines existed. General Pike crossed his arms and sharpened his gaze at Camden, thinking about how to best handle the situation. Luke wanted to shout to this group of people that he was a prisoner and needed help, but he stayed still and quiet, focused on the controls. The others moved closer together so they were almost huddled around Rhys, who whispered,
“The monsters are here.”
“Well, it seems we’ve found ourselves in an unforeseen situation. But, I’m sure we’ll get it worked out, one way or another,” Pike said, glancing anxiously at Rhys in a way that made Rita extremely nervous.
“Not that it’s any of your business,” Pike continued. “But we are…”
Rhys suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs and started jumping up and down, causing everyone to turn their attention to him.
“You and me…at the end!”
Luke, startled by the screaming madman, dropped the controls, accidently setting the biomachine to kill. Rhys turned and started running, which was a mistake. The biomachine was programmed to identify enemies fleeing, and took its first aim at Rhys, landing the shot in the middle of his body. Rhys’s arms, still bound together, flailed above his head as he hit the floor face first.
“Rhys!” Rita yelled and ran to him, further provoking the biomachine to attack. As she dropped beside him and turned him over, she was shot in the back of the head and instantly killed. Aldretti started to run to her, but Terry seeing the pattern, grabbed him, pulled him to the ground, and held him still.
Pike turned to Luke as quickly as the first shot was fired. He told him to pick up the controls, but instead, seeing his one chance for freedom, Luke turned and ran the other way. Pike ran to grab the controls, but the biomachine was faster, and shot the general straight through the chest. That shot gave Camden the second he needed to duck around the machine, slide into the floor and grab the controls. He started pressing buttons, hoping he could find the right one to settle the beast, which was turning to face Camden. The biomachine took aim just as Camden’s fingers stumbled upon the right combination. The biomachine put its arm
back down and stood again, statue like.
General Pike was dead, Rita was dead, and Rhys looked dead. His eyes were closed, but he was moaning softly while his blood spilled out of his body. He opened his eyes one last time and saw Pike bleeding on the floor and Camden standing behind the monster with the control pad in his hands. He lifted his finger to point at him.
“You’re the killer,” he whispered and then his body went limp.
Camden looked at his hands holding the power to control the incredible killing machine before him and felt sadness pierce him for the loss of Rhys and Rita. He looked at General Pike and frowned, thinking of Enira. Would she be devastated or relieved?
“Terry? Aldretti? You two okay?” Camden called out.
“We’re okay. Is…is that thing going to start shooting again if we get up?” Terry asked.
“I don’t think so, but let’s move slowly and in a minute. Let me see if I can figure out this control pad,” Camden said.
“Rita? Is she dead?” Terry asked with his voice wavering.
“I’m afraid so, Terry,” Camden answered.
He studied the control pad listening to the sounds of sobbing, but not from Terry. It was Aldretti and he was staring at Rita’s body.
“Okay, I think it’s safe for us to move,” Camden said.
Aldretti walked over to Rita and knelt beside her. He lifted her hand and held it in his for a moment, then got back up and turned his back on the whole bloody scene. Terry, who had kept his wits about him throughout, stood beside Camden and squeezed his shoulder in a brotherly way.
“We need to talk about how we are going to handle this.” Camden said. “Let’s go back to my room. I need a scotch.”
“Are we just going to leave them here?” Aldretti asked.
“I think we have to, Aldretti. It’s a crime scene. You know that,” Camden said.
“I’m sorry, Aldretti, I didn’t know you felt so much for her,” Terry said.
“I just liked her, that’s all,” he replied, still turned away from the bodies.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Camden said.
The three men left the old interrogation wing, tightly closing and locking the door behind them. There must have been another way in, from which General Pike had come, but they decided not to look for it. The young man controlling the biomachine would have likely left that way. Camden convinced himself that, whoever he was, would have also locked the door behind him.
In fact, Luke did not lock the door when he fled. He kept running until he found an entrance to the stairwell, raced to the main floor and straight out of the front door. He didn’t stop running until he came to a busy part of the city, where he could duck inside a restaurant and call for a taxi. Twenty minutes later, he would be safe at Charisa’s house.
Luke was a bit in shock from what he had recently witnessed. He sat down at a table and asked for some water while he waited. He wondered where Major Magner had been tonight. It had surprised him when General Pike came to his door earlier to start the transfers, instead of Major Magner. When Luke asked him why they were starting without the major, General Pike just said he was on a personal errand and would join them later. Hoping for his moment to escape, Luke hadn’t expressed his concerns about being short handed. Now it had paid off and he was free.
Camden, Terry, and Aldretti sat around the small table in Camden’s room, quiet and unnerved. The horror of the evening was settling in and none of them wanted to talk about it. Camden poured glasses of scotch for the three of them, to ease the sadness.
“Here’s to Rhys and Rita,” Camden said, holding up his glass, “May they be at peace.”
The three men clanked their glasses together and sipped their scotch.
“Who should we call about this?” Terry asked. “Someone has to know.”
“I think we should tell Ganesh,” Camden said. “Terry, can I use your phone?”
Ganesh was at home finishing his drawn out conversation with two members of the military police who’d been questioning him on the whereabouts of Sergeant Bearden Leitner, when his phone rang. Because of Mace Magner’s anger, Bearden had been publicly labeled a spy for an anti-government group, which was the truth, but Mace didn’t know that. Mace was there too, of course, at Ganesh’s house, but was sitting in the government transport outside watching the interview in case Bearden was found hiding out with his favorite colonel. Mace wanted Bearden dead so he’d keep his mouth shut about the side work he’d done for him. And it was easy for accidents to happen during an arrest. Unfortunately for Mace, Ganesh handled the police with confidence and integrity. After searching, it was clear that Bearden was definitely not here, so Mace sat back in his seat, hidden by the dark windows and ready to leave when he saw Ganesh pick up his phone.
“What?” Ganesh asked shortly after he answered. “When, tonight? Less than an hour ago? Stay where you are, I’ll be right there.”
After he hung up, he called after the two military policemen, who were walking back toward their transport.
“Wait, I’m coming with you back to the TRU Building. You are going to be needed tonight, after all.”
Mace didn’t want to alert Ganesh to his presence, but now he had no choice. Ganesh jumped into the transport and picked up his phone to call Colonel Cline when he saw Mace sitting beside him. He put his phone back in his pocket.
“I thought you might be behind this, Major.”
“I’m just trying to keep our government safe from traitors, like Leitner.”
“Hmph. Well, tonight we all have something much larger to deal with than a rogue sergeant.”
“What do you mean?”
“General Pike is dead.”
Mace stared at him with hate in his eyes. He wanted to ask how, but he already knew. He wondered if Luke was dead, too. If not, he would talk. Their small, secret army would be found, and maybe already had been. Mace fidgeted, wondering what would await him when he got to the unit.
“Don’t you even want to know what happened, Major?” Ganesh asked. “You two were close.”
“Yes. Obviously, I do. Tell me what happened, Colonel.”
“It was one of the weapons, and his wasn’t the only death. Rhys Krell and his nurse Rita were also killed.”
“Rhys Krell? What were they doing in the…I mean, how?”
Ganesh raised one eyebrow at Mace.
“I don’t know the details, Mace. All I know is that Rhys and his nurses were taking a walk through an old wing of the building and met a biomachine in the hall with General Pike, and a handler who lost control of the thing.”
“Where is the handler now?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t ask. But I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. No one has even been to the scene yet.”
“Then who called you? The other nurse or the handler?”
“Neither. It was Camden Riles. He was there too, along with Aldretti. I’m going to call Colonel Cline now, so he can meet us at Camden’s room. We’ll get the whole story and then go and examine the bodies.”
“This could be bad for all of us,” Mace said, mostly to himself.
Luke arrived at Charisa’s house to find her and Andreas on the porch swing engaged in a deep kiss that was, in his opinion, better suited for the bedroom.
“Charisa!”
“Luke! You’re here. I knew you could do it.” Charisa pulled herself away from Andreas and ran to Luke. They hugged each other for almost a minute before Luke suggested that they might be safer inside the house.
Luke recounted the horrific night for Charisa and Andreas, pausing when they gasped or asked him questions.
“We aren’t safe, then. We have to leave…I guess tonight,” Charisa said when Luke had finished. Andreas had a strange look on his face.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Luke, you’ve killed a general. And now you two want to skip town. This is all getting a little too real for me,” Andreas said.
“I didn’t kill the gen
eral,” Luke replied. “He is dead, and I guess it is sort of my fault, but I didn’t kill him.”
“It doesn’t matter, you will go down for this,” Andreas said. Charisa went over to Andreas and put her arms around him. He gently pushed her away.
“Charisa, I promised I’d help you find Luke, and now he’s here. But the two of you are in much deeper than I ever wanted to go. I’m sorry, but I need to leave now.”
“But, you can’t go. We still need your help.”
“I don’t think you do. And is that all I am to you? Just someone to help you get what you want?”
“No, I didn’t mean that.”
“Look, I have a shuttle mission coming up and tomorrow morning I will report for training. I won’t say a word to anyone about the two of you, but,” he looked at Charisa, “I have to go.”
Andreas walked to the door and Charisa went after him.
“Let him go, Charisa,” Luke said. “He’s not in this. And we need to figure out where we are going to go…right now. So, start packing your computer equipment. I don’t think it will take long for them to come looking for me here.”
“It will be Mace Magner, for sure. He’ll kill you…and, well, I don’t even want to think about what he’ll do to me,” she said.
Meanwhile, in a small black transport headed for Tyrine, Maeve was listening to the bug she’d put in Charisa’s home, at Ganesh’s suggestion, through a small earpiece.
“We have to turn back,” she said to Bearden who had been quiet since they left Ganesh’s house.
“What for?” he asked.
“We have to pick up a couple of people. Proven allies that need our help…and they don’t have much time,” Maeve said and turned her transport around. They raced through the air in the direction of Charisa’s house.
Back at the TRU Building, Mace and Ganesh arrived with the military police at Camden’s small apartment. It was extremely crowded with seven men clustered around the room. Terry and Camden took turns detailing the gruesome event. Mace felt a sense of relief that no one had recognized Luke, and so far, there was no indication that they knew of the secret army either. Mace knew exactly where Luke would run, and as soon as things were wrapped up here tonight, he’d go straight to Charisa’s and deal with them both.