Rebecca fought against Charles, as he directed her into the elevator, but he gently forced her inside, and the door slid shut.
“Hold still.” He said, as he reached down and released her bindings.
“Where are you taking me?” She asked warily. “What did he mean by dispose?”
“You don’t want to know what he was talking about.” Her hands free now, she swung at him, and he deftly blocked the blow. “I will help you, my dear. But I need you to remain calm.”
“That’s what you said when you took me to that lunatic.” She said, both fists raised and ready to fight. Charles nodded.
“And I apologize for that unfortunate situation, but it was necessary if I am to help you.” His hands remained at his sides, though she was obviously ready to strike at any moment. “Now that he has ordered your disposal, I can safely hide you from any future harm from him.”
“From him?” She asked. “What about you?”
“I assure you, my dear. I will not bring any harm to you.” The door slid open. “As long as you do as I ask.” He stepped out and left her inside. “Now, please come with me.” He said and walked into the hallway and disappeared from sight. She stood there for a moment, fists still raised. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, as if she expected him to leap back inside at any second. Gradually she edged her way to the doorway and peered out. He was far down the long hallway, and turned the corner and disappeared again. Cautiously, she stepped out of the hallway and began at first to walk, and then ran to catch up. She paused at the corner, peered around, and saw him a little ways down, as he stood patiently in the hallway and waited for her. The door to his left was standing open. She slowly approached.
“What is this place?” She asked.
“These are my quarters. You will be quite safe here.” She edged up to the open door, and he took a step back to allow her ample room to enter, unmolested. She darted through the opening, ran a few steps, and took shelter behind a large chair. She felt more comfortable with something in between them. He entered the room slowly, so as not to threaten her in any way.
“You live here?” She asked, the look of amazement on her face was unmistakable. “By yourself?” He nodded. “It’s so big.” She said.
“These are average quarters here in New Sebastian.”
“What is New Sebastian?” She asked.
“I’m afraid there is no time to explain that now.” He said, as she walked past her towards the kitchen area. “Please follow me.” He said as he entered the open kitchen area. “Food.” He said, as he opened a cabinet and showed her the assorted meats and sweet breads. “Drink.” He said as he opened another cabinet, and showed her the multi-colored bottles within. “And the bathroom. Please follow me.” He left the kitchen area, and crossed the huge room to a door that slid open. The lights came on and revealed a bathroom twice the size of the compartment she had lived in. Her face was blank, in awe of the vastness of it all. “Rebecca.” He said softly. She looked up at him. “You will be safe here. But I must ask you. Please do not leave here, until I return.” Her expression changed to anger.
“You’re going to keep me prisoner here.”
“No. I assure you. The door will remain unlocked, and you are free to go. However, there are things happening out there which could be very dangerous for you. And I ask you. I implore you. Please remain here until I return. I have provided you my word that no harm will come to you. I can only remain true to that word, if you do as I have asked.” The anger faded from her face, and she nodded. “Good. Now I must go.” He said. He turned and left, as the door slid shut behind him. She looked around again, and counted the seconds he had been gone. After ten, she bolted to the door, which slid open. She stood there amazed that it had opened. She had thought sure that he had lied to her, and fully expected the door to be locked. She looked both ways down the hall. It was empty. She pulled back inside, stepped back from the door, and it slid shut again. She stepped forward and it opened again. She smiled, and stepped away from the door, and headed for the kitchen.
Charles smiled and entered the elevator, as he watched the image of Rebecca on his comm unit as she checked the apartment door. Her safety was her own responsibility now, he thought. If she did as he asked, she would be fine. If not? He would not be responsible for that. He keyed an alert message from his unit. It delivered the bad news that now nine citizens had been killed by the Guardian Defensive Squad.
“Why won’t they listen and just stay inside?” He asked himself as the elevator door slid open. Counting Vanessa and Amelia, this brought the death toll to eleven. Eleven citizens killed in less than a day. More deaths than had ever occurred in all of New Sebastian since its founding. This could not continue, he thought, as he stepped out of the elevator and made his way back towards Roger’s office.
“Oh, Jillian.” He said to himself. “How could we have let this happen?” He shook his head, and then refocused on the task at hand. He keyed the command to initiate the rejuvenation program to retrieve the hand for Roger. Inventory had shown that the needed product was ready and waiting at the warehouse. Another alert popped up as he approached the door to the office. This one read, sat image retrieval. He had never seen such an alert before. The door slid open and he entered. Roger sat at his desk, as he reviewed a read out.
“My hand?” Roger asked, as he raised the bandaged hand.
“The Rejuvenation command has been initiated. The product is in inventory so there will be no delays.”
“Good. Did you get the alert?” Roger asked.
“Which alert, sir?”
“The sat image thing.”
“Yes, sir. I just received it, however I am unfamiliar with such an alert.” Charles said, as Roger keyed a few strokes on his unit.
“Come look.” He said. Charles stepped over and stood beside the Premier as an image began to load onscreen. Roger toggled a button, and the image began to appear on the wall in front of them. Row by row of pixilated colors spread across the image, as it slowly filled in.
“What is it, sir?”
“I’m not sure.” Roger said, as he rose from his seat, and stepped over the wall. “This could be the ocean. Like seen from above. See the sparkles from the sunlight. And this bright square spot. It could be a roof.”
“Yes. I see. But what roof, sir. See the shadow it casts on the water? If it is a building…it must be quite tall.”
“Look!” He said, as he pointed at a bright rectangle next to the square. “Is this what I think it is?” Roger stepped closer, and his blood ran cold when he realized what he saw. “It’s the cargo ship isn’t it?”
“Sir, there may be more than one. We don’t know that-”
“It’s the ship! And its already there!” he slammed his good hand against the wall. “The bastards! But how? I saw him push the button.”
“And we heard the return sequence activated, sir. There was no doubt about that.”
“They are there.” Roger said in disbelief. “They are already there.”
“What now, sir?”
“Connect to Adam.”
“But, sir. That is against protocol.” Roger looked at him with wonderment in his eyes, as he sat back down at his desk.
“Protocol, Charles? Really? Don’t you think we are quite outside of protocol by now. Just shut up, and connect me.” He popped two more pills and chased them down with blue liquid.
Chapter 45
Immortal Page 44