by Auri Blest
“Shut up. Here.” She pushed her e-pod player into his hand.
“Thanks.”
“There’s some old Lecrae on there, Uncle Reece, Tobi Mac, Kirk, Fred; you’ll like it.”
Soldier had no idea who those people were. “Oh, Fred, huh?”
“Yeah, Fred. Boy, don’t try to act like you know who he is. Just listen to that instead of whatever it is you’ve been listening to.”
“I’ll bring it back on our next trip.”
“Nah, just keep it. I have another,” Jade said and walked away.
Soldier watched her and closed the door. He looked at David. “She loves me.”
David erupted with laughter. “This is too funny. Stop kidding yourself. Seriously though, can I borrow that?”
They drove off towards the storage warehouse.
“Hey, pull over there for a moment,” Soldier said as he pointed over to the left of the parking lot.
29
At nightfall, all the children residing at the Global Network Operations Center were in bed in the children’s quarters if they were orphans. If they weren’t orphans, they resided in the residential building with their parent, parents or guardian. There was a separate section within the residential building for families.
The only people roaming the grounds after ten p.m. were the Stabilizer teams on duty for security purposes or on duty for tech purposes at the central computer station. They sent and received messages from other teams across the continent, teams undercover inside of the IMO cities, and from Dawn.
Around eleven p.m., a male dressed in a black special forces uniform removed a ceiling tile and dropped down out of the ceiling onto the floor of the children’s quarters. A black mask covered his entire face except for his eyes. He cautiously walked down the center aisle and looked at each sleeping child. He stopped in front of Hannah’s bed.
She was the target of his mission. She was the reason he had been following Bishop’s group. He stood for a moment, wondering if she would remain asleep if he picked her up. He could give her an injection, but the dosage he carried was meant for a much larger person.
This was only supposed to be a special reconnaissance mission, which meant monitoring the people and the whereabouts of the child. However, he devised a plan to capture the child and present her to the highest bidder. He was convinced that if the Director wanted her so badly, someone else would want her even more; someone like the Emperor. His men were waiting in an armored vehicle in a covering of trees just outside of the north end of the property.
The special forces operative picked Hannah up. She rested her head on his shoulder and continued to sleep. Good, this should be simple enough, he thought. He heard movement behind him and turned at the sound of a child’s voice.
Stephen, rubbing his eyes, sat up in his bed. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“Hey, buddy. You should be sleeping.”
“Why are you wearing a mask?” Stephen asked while climbing out of his bed. Even half asleep, Stephen was cautious and remembered what had been drilled into them to do if they found someone they didn’t recognize in their quarters.
He watched Stephen and weighed his options. With all the people that he had killed, not one of them had ever been a child. He wasn’t in the business of hurting kids. He lifted the mask over his head. “We are just going for a walk.”
He watched as Stephen walked toward the wall to the right of his bed. “Hey buddy, you should get back in bed. Someone’s going to be very upset with you.”
Hannah began to rouse. Stephen reached over and pushed the alarm on the wall. One by one the children began to awake and sit up in their beds.
Hannah looked at the special forces operative, “Put me down,” she said groggily.
“Sorry, honey. I can’t do that.”
The children got out of their beds and stood in the aisle between the man and the door.
“Children of the freakin corn,” he muttered under his breath.
Stephen grabbed the footboard of his bed. That part of the metal frame was specifically designed to detach and be used as a weapon if necessary. From behind the man, Stephen went through his legs and hit him in front, between the legs.
Stephen had caught him off guard. The man yelled out but he did not let go of Hannah. When he leaned forward in pain, Stephen hit him in the head with the pole. The man grimaced and reached out and grabbed the pole with his free hand. Only I would get the assignment where I have to fight The Last Airbender!
The children each grabbed the poles from the metal framing at the end of their beds. Just as Crystal ran into the room, they began to walk towards the soldier. He placed his free hand on his pistol.
Crystal stood just inside the doorway wearing a shawl. On her right shoulder was a large decorative pin holding the shawl in place. Crystal placed her hand on the pin and released the clasp, which also released the five blades around it revealing it was a throwing star. She quickly threw the star directly at his hand, and it cut into him, causing him to release the pistol.
As soon as he yelled out, the children quickly moved in on him, swinging their poles at him. They had been taught the most effective places to strike a body in combat, but those areas were covered by Hannah and operative’s tactical gear, so they swung at his knees and legs.
Crystal drew the pistol that she had held under her shawl, but Raymond grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back from going any further into the room. Before anyone else could get to the room, Dawn arrived, held a finger to her lips and told everyone to back away. She stepped back into the shadows.
Hannah began to yell and fight him. He reached for his tear gas grenade as someone dropped down out of the ceiling entering the room just as he had. It was Soldier.
“Kids!” yelled Soldier. “Stand down.” They backed away from the kidnapper and ran out of the room. Stephen stopped in the doorway and swung his pole towards the operative to scare him. He then turned and ran after the other children.
“You’re going to have to put her down,” said Soldier.
“I can’t do that.”
“Put her down, and you walk out of here alive.”
“No, I think I’ll walk out of here alive anyway.”
“You’re surrounded.”
The operative looked behind Soldier at David standing against the doorframe with his arms crossed. He immediately recognized him. David had been a Weapons Sergeant in one of his Operational Detachment Alphas or A-Teams as they were also known. They were the primary fighting force of the Emperor’s Black Berets. The IMO thought that David was dead. The Black Berets would not allow anyone to think that one of their men would defect.
“My men—”
“Have been captured,” Soldier cut him off. Seth, Darryl and four other members of the Stabilizer unit were with Dawn when they captured the vehicle earlier that evening.
He spoke into a transmission device on his arm, but got no response. New gadgets, Soldier thought. The operative backed up, still holding Hannah as he attempted to reach his team. Soldier moved quickly, lunging at the operative. Hannah fell to the floor and scrambled away on her hands and feet. They exchanged blow for blow. Soldier had anticipated and matched every punch that he threw.
“How—?”
“That’s right. This isn’t just a uniform. I’m trained in IMO hand-to-hand combat just like you are,” responded Soldier.
“Traitor!” he yelled while reaching back for a knife. Soldier leaped forward and grabbed the operative’s pistol while falling back behind him. The operative turned to throw the knife at Soldier, now lying on his back on the floor, but Soldier hadn’t lost his sharpshooter skills. The operative fell to the ground before the knife could leave his hand.
When he fell, Dawn was standing behind him. The security team charged into the room behind her. Hannah cried, holding Dawn’s leg.
“You mean you were right there, and you didn’t help me?” Soldier asked Dawn.
“You didn’t need m
y help.”
“Were you here the entire time?”
“Yes.”
Crystal ran up and grabbed Hannah, hugging her to her chest.
“How did you know?” asked Raymond.
“All week it felt like someone was either with us or following us. I haven’t been at ease. Then, when I arrived here today, a flash of light blinded me for a moment. It was a reflection from a mirror or metal, but I couldn’t tell where it came from. At first, I shrugged it off but before we left, I talked to David about it, and we decided to stick around in hiding. Only a handful of people knew that we were still here.”
Raymond patted him on the shoulder. “Nice work, man.” He motioned to the Stabilizers. “Let’s get this cleaned up. They’re chipped, so we need to quickly get them as far away from our location as possible.”
Dawn looked at Soldier. “This is the man that you are. I had to allow you to prove that to yourself. You are courageous and you have a destiny with us.” She knelt in front of him. “You come from a long line of military men that trace all the way back to the civil war. This is who your family wanted you to be, but you weren’t so sure that it was in you. You enlisted to please your dad, General Adams. You have never felt that you measured up, but you do. You have lived up to your father’s legacy. He would have been so very proud of you.”
Soldier dropped his head.
“You deserved to live,” Dawn said as she stepped away.
Soldier’s tears flowed freely. He felt the release of a heavy burden being lifted from him. He now felt like he had a sense of purpose, a sense of destiny.
David walked in and helped him up. “We have a room here for the night. We can head back in the morning.”
Soldier nodded.
In the hall, Crystal whispered to Dawn, “They will keep coming for her. You need to tell her.”
Dawn looked down at Hannah and picked her up. “She can stay with me tonight.”
30
VC-30 you are cleared to land.
“Roger.”
VC-30, Armored trucks will follow you on the North Route. Good day.
“Roger,” the pilot responded again. “Flight attendant prepare for landing.”
The plane came to a stop. The pilots stood, donned their coats, grabbed their pistols, and unlocked the door leading out of the cockpit. The flight attendant stood in the center of the aisle waiting for them. Every other passenger on board was unconscious. The Captain gave her a smile of approval. She opened the exit door of the plane, and IMO soldiers rushed in picking up each passenger to carry them out to the waiting armored trucks.
The flight attendant directed them to where each person lay inert. A soldier scanned their chip before they were removed from the plane. Close examination would reveal a tiny puncture wound in the neck of each passenger.
The flight crew stood outside of the plane watching as the final truck pulled away. The Captain lit a cigarette and handed it to the flight attendant. She pulled her peacoat tight and crossed her arms in front of her as she smoked.
“Let’s go,” she said.
They walked to a black sedan that was waiting behind the plane. She turned and looked back before ducking her head to enter the vehicle. The whites of her eyes glowed bright blue.
Cain began to come to as he was dragged, an arm under each armpit, into a cell. “Wie geht’s?” he heard one of the soldiers ask another soldier outside of the cell. Wait a minute. I recognize that. He just asked how’s it going or something like that. We must be in Germany or somewhere near it. But why?
After what seemed like hours Cain heard footsteps approaching. A soldier with a heavy German accent instructed, “Eat!” as he kicked a tray into the cell.
“Where am I?”
“Soon, comrade.”
“Where is the Director?”
“Sleeping,” he replied as he walked away.
Cain kicked the tray of Wiener Schnitzel, a breaded veal dish, and potatoes against the wall. His eyes darted back and forth across the cell looking for a way of escape. There were no windows, and the walls were made of stone and dirt as if carved from a mountain. He reached into his pocket. They had taken everything. He had no choice but to sit and wait.
Hannah ran to Crystal and hugged her. She was humming a song.
“Come on, Hannah!” yelled Stephen.
“Why are you in such a rush?” Crystal responded.
“We’re making slime today.”
Professor Ellis and his experiments, Crystal thought.
Crystal looked down at Hannah. “You are so happy, little one. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Dawn. Did she have a talk with you about your mother?”
“Yes, ma’am. She wasn’t my mother, but Dawn said I can still love her as my mother. Dawn said she was a really good person, but I knew that already.”
Hannah turned to run after Stephen, but Crystal stopped her. “Is there anything else that Dawn told you?”
“Yes, but it’s a secret.”
Crystal watched her skip away.
Hannah turned back. “Oh, she gave me a birthday present!”
“It’s your birthday?”
“Yes, I’m seven now.”
“Nosey!”
“Jade, you sneak up on me, and then you call me nosey? I just wondered if Dawn made a decision about her hair.”
“I asked her about it, and she said that we wouldn’t need to do anything. Don’t ask me what that means. You know Dawn.”
“That I do,” said Crystal.
“She’s called an emergency meeting which we are already late for. I came to get you.”
“What’s going on?”
“Really? You think she told me anything? I don’t know why you always act so new.”
Crystal shoved her. “Get moving, smart mouth.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado we present to you, Jade and Crystal. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to join us, ladies,” Seth reprimanded.
Jade made a face at him.
“It’s my fault we’re late,” replied Crystal. They were the last to arrive and quickly took seats at the back of the room. All the Ascendancies of the Global Network Operations Center were there.
Dawn was standing near a window away from them. She turned around to face the group but didn’t speak. Everyone sat in silence, waiting. It must be something complicated, Jade thought.
“I have a mission that includes taking some of you with me. Do you remember the power that we shared at Titanpointe when we were unified?” Dawn glanced at Seth, Ryan, Ray and Jade. They nodded.
“I think it would be best if those that were there that night be a part of this group.”
Jade started to speak, but Dawn held up her hand cutting her off. “Please hold off on your questions for now. I need you to understand how serious this is. There’s a lot at stake. This could be a one-way trip.”
Dawn sighed. Everyone noticed that the discussion seemed difficult for her.
“We also have to make sure that we leave the right people here in authority to carry on in our absence. Crystal, you know that we need you here, not just for the children, but for decision making. Should Seth decide to go, you will be next in command.”
“Where are we going?” asked Jade.
Darryl kicked her boot. “She said to hold off on questions,” he whispered.
Jade stuck her tongue out at him.
“Austria.”
The room filled with murmurs.
“Look, you can stay here in the safety of the Global Network Operations Center, but that is not what we are here for. We are fighting for the future of humanity. We can go to the mountain and do what we must do, or we can wait here, because the mountain will indeed, eventually, come to us and annihilate the Operations Center and all our teams across the continent. That isn’t a maybe. It is going to happen.”
“But it won’t happen if we go?” asked Jade.
“If we go, our people will be safe for a se
ason, and then war will come.”
“We are seeing the prophecy come to pass in this generation,” added Seth.
Dawn turned back and stared out of the window. “Juan is handing out paper. If you want to be one of the ones chosen to go, write down your name. If you choose not to, write ‘I’ll stay.’ That’s just to make sure that everyone is writing. We only need seven in total. I will choose from those.”
Juan collected the papers and placed them in a basket.
“Those that are chosen will be summoned for another meeting tonight.”
Bishop was on the roof when a pigeon flew in with a note attached. He read the note and sighed. “Have Soldier meet me in the sanctuary.”
“Yes, sir,” David responded.
“Good evening Bishop.”
“Hey, son. I received a message from Dawn. They need you at the Operations Center.”
“More trainees?”
“No.”
Soldier noticed that there was something different about Bishop’s countenance. “I told them that I wasn’t ready to join them yet. Did she say why?”
“There’s a mission of great importance.”
“They need me for it?”
“If Dawn is asking for you, she must know that it’s something that you can handle. You will be an asset to the team.”
Soldier’s head dropped. “No. I don’t feel good about this. Do I have to go?”
“No, you are never forced to do anything. It’s your decision.”
“You said that a team is going?”
“A total of seven and you will be one of the seven.”
“I don’t know, Bishop. I want to help but I’ve been doing well here. I’ve settled into this lifestyle. Tell me what to do.”
“I can’t, son. I can tell you this; we don’t learn and grow by sticking with what’s comfortable. The greatest of us have been forged and strengthened through adversity.”
Soldier nodded.
Bishop rose and patted his shoulder. “The decision must be yours.”
“How soon would I have to leave?”
“Tonight.”