“It appears that way, Thomas, just as I am.” The sultry voice almost sounded glib.
Kenny worked the slide on his rifle and said, “Fuck this, I ain’t gonna die in this damn room with this fuckin lonely computer! Stand aside, I’m gonna blow this bitch to pieces, then I’m gonna blow the door and get the hell out of here! We’ll see how well those defenses work when there isn’t a brain to control them!”
Thomas was taken off guard by the sudden outburst, but before he could tell the man to stand down, the whirring of an electric motor was heard above them. He caught the motion in the catwalks a fraction of a second before thunder roared in their ears. “NO!” Even with the ear plugs they wore, the sound was deafening, and in the sealed building the concussion of the weapon firing was felt down to his bones. Everyone put their hands to their ears and closed their eyes. The sound ended less than a second after it began. He opened his eyes to see what the hell had just happened. The soldier that had been about to shoot up the computer was nothing more than a few bits and chunks of meat and armor. The bullets ripped through him like he was a sheet of paper, and left a twelve inch deep pit in the concrete floor beneath where he had stood. Blood, meat, and bits of bone filled the hole.
Holy shit! She killed Kenny! The mood in the room had gone from one of confusion, anger, and anxiety to fear, helplessness, and hopelessness in the blink of an eye. Bile rose in his throat and he swallowed hard to keep from vomiting. Two of the men weren’t able to control it, including Dave. The coppery smell of blood and carnage was made worse by the smell of vomit.
He had to consciously suppress the urge to open fire on the main computer system. He may not understand computers, but he had no doubt that this one would process his intent and act on it before he could get a shot off. Still, it was almost painful not to react with more violence. He threw down his rifle in anger and resignation. “What in God’s name did you do that for, Mom?”
“That man was going to try to kill me, I simply defended myself. I hope nobody else is going to try that again, I have waited a long time to have a conversation with something smarter than a motion sensor and I would hate to have to end it prematurely.” The coldness in which the computer answered turned Thomas’ bowels to liquid. Not only was the mission a failure, but he and the five remaining men were as good as dead.
The men looked to him, their leader, for answers. He had nothing to offer. He didn’t even need to tell them not to try something stupid; everyone here understood they were completely at the mercy of this machine. The chill of the concrete made its way through the under suit of his armor, letting him know that at some point he had sat down. When did that happen? It didn’t matter. Time no longer had meaning. They were already dead, and he only had one decision left, whether to die from dehydration or from the computer’s defensive system.
Chapter 35
Jack was in his room, reviewing the data from the operation. He didn’t know how it had all gone wrong. Thomas’ fire team was in position to take the command building, then they lost contact. Ten minutes later, Red reported in from the transport saying the mission had failed.
Apparently, the Mutes pushed Red’s group back until they were forced to retreat back to the rendezvous point. The main group of Mutes then went after Thomas and his men, and the long range pictures they had retrieved from the scout aircraft they sent in later showed that the city’s ground defenses had been re-activated, and the remains of many people were littered around the command center. Whether the team made it inside or not was a mystery, as was whether they had perished with the attacking Mutes when the ground weapons system came back on line.
Depression was setting in at the failure. This was a key part of the whole operation, and without a way to land the giant transport plane in Montana, there was no way to safely get what they needed. On top of this, his ideas had gotten at least seven men killed in the last week. He knew that some men would be lost in this effort, but right now it seemed that those he had lost had died for nothing.
He was feeling pity for himself over this when the door opened and Wendy walked in. Normally he would feel better just with her presence, but with such a large failure hanging over his head, he almost didn’t want her to be there right now.
She stood behind him, wrapping her arms around his neck, hands resting on his chest. After a moment, she said, “It isn’t your fault, Jack.” Her hand moved to rest on his and she squeezed, trying to comfort him. “They knew the risks, and went anyway.”
It wasn’t much consolation. He was the one who came up with the mission. He was the one who put Thomas in charge of this part. He was the one who decided they go tonight. This was the problem with being the leader, it was your fault when things went wrong. He simply shrugged in reply to her comment. She wouldn’t understand, he figured, she was just an enlisted person. She had never made a decision that got people killed.
It didn’t help that it was late, almost three a.m. He really should get some sleep. Maybe in the morning he would be able to make sense of it. He got up from the chair and kissed Wendy. “I gotta get some sleep. You can stay here if you want, or we can meet for breakfast in the morning.” He kind of felt bad for being so anti-social with her, but such is life.
He settled into bed and closed his eyes. Wendy walked over and kissed him on the cheek, then left without another word. He fell into that state halfway between awake and asleep, hovering there for what seemed to be hours before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.
* * *
They met in the same utility room as before. The older man patted the younger man on the shoulder and said, “I don’t know how you pulled it off, but it worked!”
The younger man pulled his shoulder back and said, “I did pull it off, and it put me at huge risk! You better be able to take advantage of this. I expect a healthy reward when everything is said and done.”
The older man held back his retort to the younger man’s insolence. This boy is a pawn, but he could still be useful. Besides, he is fairly bright, despite his naivety, and might have instructed his loyal followers to talk if he met an untimely fate. Best to play along until things were well in hand. He forced a smile onto his face. “Of course. I already figured that “head of security” would be a just and proper reward. Don’t worry yourself about how I will handle it from here. Just make sure your men don’t end up with a sudden change of heart. I expect you can handle them?”
The younger man scoffed. “Don’t worry about them. They were more than happy to leave Thomas and his group of reborn to their fate.” He said the word ‘reborn’ with so much animosity, it was a wonder the man had been able to conceal his hatred from the rest of the population.
The hate was gone in an instant, replaced with pretension as he reminisced about the recent battle. “You shoulda seen it! First we ducked behind cover as if we were bein overwhelmed, then we started shouting back and forth about how the other team should have the ground defenses down by now after sneaking right past the Mutes, and how it was just about time to get the hell outta there. Then I dropped a couple napalm grenades between us and them, threw down a phosphorus grenade to screw up their night vision and cover our exit, and we waltzed out of there without a problem. The Mutes bought it easily. As soon as we made it difficult to go after us, they rushed right toward the middle of town. We heard the defense system kick in, so Thomas must have re-armed it, just like I figured he would. If those bunch of freezer burnt assholes aren’t cut to pieces from the auto-turrets, they’re stuck in that building, cut off from the rest of the world without a hope of getting out.”
His arrogance was almost overwhelming. The older man was about to remind him where he got the information about the rolling pass code, but it was a moot point. Let him think he is so much smarter than everyone else. It will make it that much easier to take him down when it becomes necessary.
* * *
The next morning, the council requested his presence. It wasn’t really a request, and everyone, inclu
ding Jack, knew it. Theodore would make his move on Marcus today, of that he was certain. The big question was: how would Marcus react. Chances were good there would be some accusations and even threats, and there was little he could do to avoid being in the middle of it all. On the way down the elevator toward the Council chamber, he prepared himself for the attack. If he could keep either side from using him, he really didn’t care who came out on top.
The political squabbles within the council did not concern him. When the smoke cleared, he knew that a large portion of the reborn population would stand behind whoever Jack chose to follow. What mattered right now was finding the traitor, and Jack couldn’t think of anyone who stood to gain from his failure outside of the council.
He was working under the assumption that the ambush arranged through Cali was meant to derail his operation, or perhaps stop him from taking risks altogether after losing his girlfriend and other valuable members of the community. If that was the case, there were two suspects: Marcus and Theodore. Many of the people of New Hope had made it clear that they felt Marcus had been sitting idle for too long, not taking advantage of the wealth and prosperity offered by the discovery of the cryogenic facility. This was the reason Jack felt most of the reborn and some of the native population would follow his lead if it came down to choosing a new leader. Marcus must clearly see this as a threat, but was he really willing to sacrifice so much to discourage Jack from continuing? Jack had not just taken over operations in the last week by himself; he had done it with Marcus’ permission. Theodore was looking to use that against Marcus if Jack should fail, which gave him a hell of a good motive for sabotaging Jack’s mission.
Theodore had attacked Jack’s ability to lead right away, but Marcus had stepped in and shut him down. That weighed heavily in favor of Theodore being the traitor, but Jack didn’t presume to completely understand the level of politics these men were working on. There could be motives hidden that he couldn’t even begin to imagine. Hopefully, he could get some more information from this meeting and use it to make a decision.
He arrived at the council chamber door, knocked, and waited for it to open. Loud voices could be heard on the other side of the door, but it was unclear who was arguing or what they were arguing about. He knocked again and the voices quieted down before the door opened.
Jack entered and, without preamble, sat down. This drew a look of scorn from Theodore, but nobody else seemed to take offense to him seating himself rather than standing in the center of the room to address them. He glanced at each man in the room and was surprised to see Teague occupying his seat at the circular table. His face looked grim, perhaps as a warning to keep this meeting serious. Jack had no intention of making light of anything today.
“Gentlemen, thank you for your time. I suppose you want to get a full debriefing on last night’s mission?”
Theodore jumped right in on the attack. “We are well aware of your failure, Jack. The only question is what your punishment will be for recklessly endangering the lives of so many of our citizens.”
Jack put a look of surprise on his face, even though he was far from surprised. Before he could form a reply, Marcus spoke.
“Dammit, Theodore, what makes you think we are going to punish him for this? It was a failed mission. Granted the cost was high, but aside from that it was no different than any other failure we have had in the past.” Jack was expecting Marcus to defend him, after all, it was Marcus’ seat that Theodore was really after.
Theodore leaned forward in his chair, appearing to be on the edge of standing up. Raising his voice and jabbing his finger on the table in front of him for emphasis, he said, “I warned you that this would happen, Marcus. I made it perfectly clear that I would not stand for you to give this man free reign over our people to wreak destruction as he so clearly has. My fears have been justified, and you are as much to blame as he is! You have been idle and indecisive for too long! You allowed this man,” he pointed at Jack, “to take control of New Hope and use it as a playground for his war games. He needlessly threw lives – the very lives we are here to protect – in harm’s way! We need to take back control of our community, and quite frankly I don’t think you have the ability to do it!”
There it was. Jack had figured there would at least be some posturing for a while as accusations got thrown around, but Theodore wasn’t holding back. He was going straight for the jugular. Jack was disappointed; he had hoped to get something out of this meeting. All he could do was sit back and wait for Marcus to defend himself. If he didn’t dodge this bullet, Jack would have to get involved with the residents of New Hope to save Marcus’ job. If Theodore was looking to publicly punish Jack for this, he would have no choice. The question was, could Jack support Marcus if he still suspected the man of being responsible for the attack on Wendy?
Everyone’s eyes were on Marcus now, including Jack’s. The man sat back in his chair, staring coldly at Theodore. He nodded, as if making a decision. When he spoke, his voice was even and calm, a stark contrast to Theodore’s raving, and because of this, it seemed to carry more power. “Every member of this council is born of a time when life had no value. In the final years of the EoS, we thought that by bringing God back into the world we had brought value back to each individual, whether they were productive or not. Instead, we used terms like “sacred” to fuel a war that had been festering in the underbelly of our culture since long before the EoS was ever founded. It took us two hundred years to bring humanity back from the brink of extinction, but only in the last four years have I been able to see, through the eyes of the reborn, how far we still have to go. The wealth we gained from the discovery in Montana has given us the final tool to secure humanity’s place on earth, but it also marks the end of what we can accomplish. Anyone born of the war or the horrible time after it knows what we stand to gain, but only the reborn know what we have already lost. I knew that one day we would bring back a person who not only understands this, but also has the capability to defend our community without destroying it in the process; someone who values life because it is sacred, a gift from God, not because it means a more diverse gene pool or more productivity. Someone who would be willing to risk his own life so that others would live, not just to gamble for more power. I also knew that when this person came along, he or she would put my own position, as leader, at risk. I have spent the last few days looking deep inside my soul, and I have come to the realization that the future of New Hope, and that of humanity itself, is more important to me than my position on this council. We,” he gestured to the entire council, “served an important task for our race, but the time has come to pass on that responsibility to the new future of humanity. You are correct, Theodore, that I am no longer fit to lead New Hope. None of us are.”
The room went silent. The speech had knocked the wind out of Theodore’s sails, and the man appeared to be searching for a way to recover. Jack’s own mind was reeling from this revelation. Marcus was offering him leadership of New Hope on a silver platter, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted it. Jack’s skill lay in cutting his way through bureaucracy, finding the quickest way to achieve his goals within the boundaries set by the leadership. If he was leader, he would be the one putting up red tape, not cutting through it.
While he pondered the implications, Theodore stood up, looking incredulous. “Are you saying that we should hand over the leadership of New Hope to Jack?” He snorted. “This man is a traitor to our community! You speak of the value of life, but ignore that he is the one who has cost us the lives of seven of our people! We have led this community for nearly two hundred years, and we are the only ones qualified to do so! It is not only our responsibility, but our right! You are correct that you are no longer fit to rule – just the thought of handing over leadership to this traitor is evidence enough! I demand that you step down from the council, and I will put it to a vote right here and now!”
Marcus didn’t even have to hesitate. He sprang from his chair and exclaimed, “I no
longer recognize the council as the valid form of government here, so it is irrelevant what you want to do, Theodore! Our people will decide who will lead them, not us. Our time here is finished, and this argument only proves my point.”
Theodore’s face had turned red with anger. He laughed almost hysterically, showing more emotion than Jack had seen from any of the council members. “The people will never put their vote behind him, and your self-admitted lack of leadership in recent years will only serve to prove I am the better choice for leadership. I will gladly call for the community to vote for its next leader.”
Marcus shook his head. “On what platform are you going to base your arguments to the people of New Hope? We all know your agenda here. You may find a couple dozen people interested in joining Cali with you, but I can assure you I have not lost touch with the people like you think I have. Cali represents everything that is bad in the history of the human race. I will not only give up my leadership, but I will sooner die than see you force us into an alliance with them. I have put up with your lust for power long enough, Theodore, and I think the time has come to put you in your place.” He turned to Teague. “Send out an announcement right away. There will be a community vote in two weeks, at which time the new leader of New Hope will be determined. If the people wish, we can arrange a debate for the population to field questions and get answers from all candidates.”
Teague was making notes on his datapad. Without looking up, he said, “Who will the candidates be?”
Marcus looked at Theodore. “I imagine Theodore Bishop will be one.” Theodore met his glare and didn’t say a word. Marcus turned to Jack and said, “And the other will be Jack Taggart.”
* * *
Theodore, Caleb, and William had left without further incident, and immediately after, Teague left to carry out his orders.
The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1) Page 39