The End of the Beginning

by Eichholz, Zachary

  “Why?” asked the technician suspiciously. “Did that order come from Base Commander Hammond?”

  “Base Commander Hammond is no longer in command here Rescue Officer. Chief Hernandez is in control of Base Tranquility now.”

  “I won’t carry out any order without Base Commander Hammond’s authorization. I’m sorry,” said the technician.

  “Is that so?” said the guardsman hostilely. He pulled out his handgun from his thigh holster and aimed it at the technician’s head.

  “What the hell are you doing, Guardsman? Are you insane? Put your gun away!” cried the major.

  The technician began shaking and kept his head forward. Fear and intimidation seemed to suck the air out of the octagon.

  “Begin preflight sequences now Rescue Officer,” ordered the guardsman. “You are no longer in control here. We are.”

  ...

  A convoy of ISAF vehicles drove out onto the airport apron. The sun was rising through thick dark clouds, which were unleashing a downpour. It was 9:03 a.m. eastern time. Hernandez was in the cab of the third vehicle from the front of the convoy, in an armored personnel carrier that had been used over a decade ago in Afghanistan, now heavily modified to run off of hydrogen along with some other new tech advancements.

  “Tranquility Tower, this is Chief Hernandez. What is the status of Base Commander Hammond’s aircraft?”

  “Hernandez, this is Tranquility Tower. Base Commander Hammond’s plane is descending through 2,000 on final approach. We will divert her aircraft upon landing to parking space ten. It is away from the main terminal and is still under construction.”

  “Copy tower. We will head over there now. Over and out.”

  Hernandez switched radio channels to speak to the rest of the convoy.

  “Attention convoy leader, head to parking space ten. Once there form a perimeter with the vehicles around the space. Dispatch our drones to begin escort of Base Commander Hammond’s aircraft immediately.”

  The lead patrol car turned on its blue and red warning lights that ran parallel on the edges of the cars roof and began heading to the indicated aircraft parking space. Hernandez watched as two of ISAF’s fixed wing drones flew up into the low cloud layer, each one armed with four missiles.

  ...

  “Commander,” called a subgroup general. “Look.”

  Hammond followed his vision out the right side of the plane. A drone appeared through the gray several hundred feet off their wingtip.

  “Uh-oh,” John whispered.

  ...

  Hernandez stepped out of his vehicle into a puddle. He threw his long white standard issue ISAF raincoat on, putting it hood over his helmet. He cocked his P90 and then let his hang off his vest. He cocked his handgun as well and placed it snugly in his thigh holster. Guardsmen began running out of other armored vehicles in the large semicircle they had formed, taking up positions behind each truck and patrol car. Some took up positions atop the armored vehicles with sniper rifles or on machine gun turrets. A group of twenty guardsmen ran to Hernandez. A quadcopter drone was sent up to record everything.

  They were next to a large fenced in dig sight where hydrogen pipelining was being installed that would soon connect to the Airport Sections hydrogen production facility. A bright yellow tower crane rose up from the dig sight. It was twelve stories tall with a boom nearly three quarters that length hovering over the parking space.

  The twenty guardsmen lined up in two rows of ten behind Hernandez. Each guardsman also had long raincoats along with white fabric facemasks under their helmets that covered everything but their noses and eyes. Together with Hernandez, they all stepped into the middle of the semicircle and waited. The rain was torrential but Hernandez enjoyed it. It calmed him. He tried to feel every drop running down his body and listen to every drip that was made.

  “Our purge will be greater than that of even Noah’s,” he whispered to himself with a grin. “Nothing will escape our flood. After today, the lie that is modern civilization will die and we’ll be free.”

  “Excuse me, sir,” said a guardsman who was suddenly standing beside him.

  “Yes, guardsman?” answered Hernandez, staring out over the gloomy airport runways.

  “Can you please sign this sir?” asked the guardsman, holding up a glass tablet. “It is an approval form for allowing all data from the Phoenix 5 network to be downlinked to ISAF Headquarters.”

  Hernandez looked down at the tablet screen.

  “I just need your username and password, sir,” said the guardsman.

  Hernandez took the glass tablet, typed in his information. He then handed it back to the guardsman.

  “Thank you, sir.”

  The guardsman went back into the two row ranks. A jet descended through the clouds with drone escorts. Hernandez smiled at it menacingly. He had longed for this moment.

  “Everyone make ready!” he shouted.

  CHAPTER 79: Kill Them

  As the engines shut down, the cabin door was opened, slowly. Everyone around the semicircle perimeter drew their guns to it. Hernandez rested his hand on his holstered sidearm. As the door swung open Hernandez waved over some guardsmen to move in with a manually operated set of boarding stairs. Under the cover of the perimeter guardsmen they placed the stairs against the open doorway and then retreated. Hernandez could not see anyone inside the jet yet.

  “To all occupants of the aircraft,” shouted Hernandez, “please exit in a single file line with your hands up and behind your heads. I want Base Commander Alice Hammond and Colonel John Morrison first in line. You will be taken into custody on the charges of aiding and abetting terrorist involved in last nights attack on the Bering Sea Dam and for covering up and deleting relevant investigation material regarding the death of Rescue Officer Samir Mamedov.”

  A flash of lightning followed by the ringing of thunder resonated across the airport. A figure appeared in the doorway. They stepped out onto the boarding steps top platform. It was Hammond. Her hands were down at her side. John appeared behind her.

  “I will walk out of this plane however I chose, Hernandez!” she declared loudly.

  “Commander,” scoffed Hernandez. “Please, it has been a long two days for us all. Don’t make them even longer.”

  “It’s over Hernandez,” Hammond said, beginning to walk down the stairs. Hammond flashed Hernandez a small object in her hand at her side. “It really is over. With this, I can finally finish what needs to be done.”

  Hernandez chuckled and started walking towards the plane about twenty feet in front of him. “Says the woman surrounded by a hundred guardsmen all equipped with evidence to the contrary of your innocence. It is you who are finished, Commander. You have had a long and distinguished career; why not end it with some dignity, hm? Come quietly with your head high, facing the world, showing us who you really are.”

  “The world can draw its own conclusions about me. Frankly, I don’t give a shit.” Hammond stepped off the stairs and onto the tarmac. “I don’t matter, at least not for much longer. I know what has to be done, what has to be sacrificed, to stop you and all those you belong to do.”

  “I’m flattered I am so centric to your life,” smirked Hernandez who still had his hand on his gun.

  The two walked right up to each other. Their body language from a distance could be taken as two ordinary people having an ordinary conversation.

  “I know who you really are, Hernandez. I know who everyone really is. With this, I have the proof I have been searching for for so long.”

  Hernandez looked down at the object in her hand. “Is that so Commander? Who am I then?”

  “A Terra Novan, you son of bitch!” a man shouted from behind.

  Hernandez swung his body around. “Excuse me?!”

  A man in the middle of the first line of guardsmen threw back their raincoat hood. They unclipped their helmet and threw it down. Then they removed their fabric facemask and drew their weapon on Hernandez’s chest with its blue l
aser sight.

  Hammond smiled as Hernandez frowned with anger. Perimeter guardsmen redirected their aim to the unmasked man.

  “Captain William Emerson,” loathed Hernandez. “Everyone, hold your fire!”

  “It’s over Hernandez!” William shouted, staring down the sight of his P90. “I know who this man really is, where his allegiances really stand. He is a Terra Novan!”

  Suddenly, a lone guardsman in the formation behind William slammed their fists into the throats of two guardsmen on either side of them, sending them choking to the ground with crushed windpipes. Then the guardsman kicked the back of another’s knee out in front of them. As they leaned over, off balance from their crumpled knee, the guardsman was knocked out when the attacking guardsman jumped up and smashed their fist across their face. Hernandez watched as within seconds another three went down at the hands of this rogue, as if almost dancing amongst the formation.

  Once six guardsmen had gone down the rogue stopped. The other remaining guardsmen in the formation quickly removed their own raincoats and headgear. It was the remainder of William’s team. The rogue turned out to be Vega. She and Heather took up positions on either side of William, joining him in his aim of Hernandez. The rests turned their guns outward towards the semicircle perimeter of shocked guardsmen.

  “And I’m not alone in that belief,” said William definitely with his team behind him.

  “A belief,” smiled Hernandez, nodding his head. “I warned you about beliefs and the emotions associated with them Will.”

  “You can lose the smug smile you bastard, I have the facts. You told me that as well, remember? You said to always trust myself with facts behind me. Well… I do.”

  Hernandez opened his arms, “Please, enlighten us.”

  “This man has been trying to cover himself up from the beginning. It was you who tried to cover up Samir’s death. You tried to frame him as a crazy drug addict. He wasn’t. He was a scared kid who wanted out of Terra Nova, who wanted nothing more to do with you! He was so frightened though that all he thought he could do to save himself and warn me was to take his own life. You deleted all the investigation files. You covered up evidence of his involvement and tried to frame Hammond as well. Her username and password couldn’t possibly have access to delete those files as you made it look; even she doesn’t have clearance. But, you do, and you just proved it to me.”

  William could see Hernandez realized something in his head.

  “That’s right, Chief, when I handed you that glass tablet it wasn’t to handover comms, it was authorizing the deletion of medical records. Mine, actually,” William smiled.

  William sent out a loud whistle. Back at a patrol car in the perimeter a guardsman threw off their raincoat, relieving themselves to be Jake. He opened the back door to the patrol car. Shampoo jumped out. She ran over to Amanda. Amanda removed a small vile from one of her pants pockets and let Shampoo sniff it.

  “I noticed Shampoo here had a particular interest in your right forearm when she first met you,” William said. “For a rescue dog who can’t seem to sniff humans she sure did hit the nail on the head with this one.”

  “Go find it Shampoo, go find it girl,” encouraged Amanda. Shampoo did a few turns in place, sniffed the ground, took a drink from a puddle, and then galloped towards Hernandez. She started sniffing the man’s right forearm. Hernandez ignored the presence of the dog.

  “Miller,” said William, “the vile.” Amanda threw the vile over to William who caught it and held it up. “This vile contains fluorescent tattoo ink. We found this ink on Samir’s forearm as well. Tattooed to his arm were four triangles, the four symbols of Terra Nova. The same four symbols seen in Terra Nova’s cyber intrusion last night.”

  William dove into one of his pockets and took out a UV flashlight. He turned it on and threw it to Hernandez who caught it without even taking an eye off William.

  “Show us Chief; show the world who you really are.”

  Hernandez compliantly rolled up his right sleeve. He held up his exposed forearm to the perimeter and shown the light to his skin. The four symbols revealed themselves.

  “My God,” Jake whispered.

  “No,” John muttered sadly.

  Hammond grinned.

  Guardsmen left and right slightly lowered their guns and gasped. Shampoo ran back to Amanda.

  “Good girl,” congratulated Amanda.

  “But most of all,” shouted William, “your own words betrayed you, Chief. Yesterday at headquarters you said to me ‘this is only the end of the beginning’. Samir said those exact words to me just before he jumped, words one doesn’t often hear put together, words it seems only a Terra Novan would say.”

  Hernandez started clapping. “The great Captain William Emerson solves yet another case for me. You may win today in facts, but not in force. Goodbye Will. Guardsmen, take aim at the traitors. Terminate them on my mark!”

  Guardsmen raised their weapons again at the team and at Jake. William steadied himself.

  “I have a shot,” Vega said. “Let me take it.”

  “No. Not yet,” William ordered. “Not yet.”

  Hernandez began counting down. “Three…”

  “Captain, it’s now or never,” said Heather urgently.

  “Two…”

  “Don’t fire Phillips. Trust me.”

  “One…”

  “Captain!”

  “Mark!”

  Nothing happened. No shots rang out. Everyone remained still. Hernandez looked around in confusion at his guardsmen.

  “I said mark! Kill them all!” Hernandez shouted impatiently.

  William looked around. The guardsmen began pointing their weapons all at Hernandez.

  “That’s it,” whispered William. “That’s it. We won them over. He’s finished.”

  “Kill them!”

  “It’s over, Hernandez,” Hammond said softly.

  “No,” Hernandez moaned. “Noooo! Don’t you see, he must die!”

  “Guardsmen,” ordered Jake, “take Chief Hernandez into custody!”

  Hernandez quickly grabbed Hammond and threw her into a headlock with his right arm. She thrashed against it. With his left arm he took out his handgun and aimed it up the boarding stairs at John.

  “No,” shuttered William.

  “Nobody move,” said Hernandez calmly.

  “Hernandez don’t,” William pleaded. “You’re surrounded now!”

  “Your so naïve, Captain,” laughed Hernandez sinisterly. “I’m not surrounded, simply betrayed. It seems the sum of our cause is greater than those individuals in it.” Hernandez laughed even harder. “Any are expendable at the hands of efficiency I guess.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Let John go Hernandez,” Hammond squirmed. “It’s me you want. Me.”

  “No,” sighed Hernandez, “its about what they want. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and I have just become apart of the few to them. This is their efficiency at its finest. This is their logical sacrifice of one, to save the rest.”

  “Was it worth it?” Hammond choked. “Hm? To find yourself as worthless to them as those they claim to hate.”

  Hernandez looked down at Hammond in his arm. “It was worth it to know I was going to make a difference for a cause that was greater than my life. And,” whispered Hernandez, “I still will.”

  “Hernandez!” William called angrily. “Let them go!”

  “You know Will, I thought you, of all people, would understand! Both of us have lived through hell. Both of us have endured suffering. We are men with lives cast from the painful molds of a system so corrupt that people no longer expect their governments to work, to do what is right. We are men born from the ashes of the past, daring to find our own futures. But, we can no longer rely on the system to build our future for us. Men like us, people like us, must forge it themselves, through any means necessary.”

  “It wasn’t the system that broke me Hernandez
, it was simply nature and the brutality of man, things that will never be fully understood or controlled.”

  “And where did that brutality come from, Will? Where did that vulnerability to nature come from, huh? You were a firsthand witness to such vulnerability in mans ego. You are the very product of mans weakness to adapt, set in your societal mold, and because of that, you have and always will, fail…”

  “Shut up you asshole,” Hammond gritted.

  William shook his head. “Hernandez - ”

  “You let them all die! Everyone you have ever loved has died because of you! When the levee behind your home in New Orleans broke, swamping your home…”

  “Run Will, run! Get to the attic, now! Run…”

  “Stop,” William muttered.

  “She died in agony as you just watched and did nothing! You let her suffer! You watched her drown as she slipped away below the remains of your home!”

  “I love you, Will, I’ll always love you…”

  “Shut up!” cried William. “That’s not true!”

  “Oh yes it is. If it weren’t true she’d still be alive. And so would your grandfather…”

  William felt his heart rate accelerate widely. His chest started to tighten and his breathing quickened in pace. “Stop!”

  “Yes,” Hernandez grinned. “Your grandmother’s death wasn’t what really destroyed your life. No, it was something much more violent, much more intimate. Do remember what that moment was, Will? I know you do. It’s what’s really tormented you every single day of your life…”

  “Get away from him!”

  “Poppy, no!”

  “Get away, Will! Get away!”

  “Don’t hurt him, please! He’s all I have left… Poppy…”

  “You watched him die at the hands of a boy for the food in his pockets. Everyone at the dome was starving weren’t they, starving because the system failed to send aid in time. He wasn’t very old was he Will, sixty-one right?”